Posted on 02/04/2016 8:00:26 AM PST by EternalVigilance
After years of running up against unconstitutional federal education mandates imposed on states using bribes and bludgeoning from Washington, D.C., a group of parents and grassroots education activists from across America is launching a fresh effort to shut down the U.S. Department of Education once and for all. The mission: "Stop Fed Ed."
In the crosshairs is everything from dumbed-down "standards" such as the Obama-backed Common Core nationalization of schooling and associated federal testing regimes, to the deeply controversial federal data gathering and data mining encouraged and financed largely by the feds. The group hopes to pressure Congress into ending all education-related federal funding, mandates, and data schemes. Efforts will also be undertaken at the state and local level.
In the end, the group hopes that by abolishing the Education Department and removing the federal government's tentacles from America's schools and children, positive reforms can be pursued at the state and local level to improve education -- as intended by the framers of the Constitution. Many of the group's leaders have long track-records of pushing state and local efforts to fix various education problems. But with the specter of unconstitutional federal meddling and threats always looming large, that has been difficult.
Now the parent activists are ready to try a fresh approach...
Whoops. Sorry. Forgot the link.
About time!
People are very ignorant as to what the agency's purpose is. They have nothing to do with education, and everything to do with finances.
Newt Gingrich voted for this monstrously interesting.
What a wonderful day that would be. Then students might begin to learn again.
How many coal mines does the Department of Energy operate?
Zero
This is something FreeRepublic should really push. We have to start the conversation about eliminating these “sacred cow”. The DOE is really anti-quality education and it is obscenely expensive.
Any and all federal involvement in education beyond training government employees, members of the military, and the children of military members on US bases, is completely unconstitutional.
Great point. Federal bureaucrats have never educated a single child.
Absolutely.
Yes, indeed he did. It was one of the first horrible things he did when he got to Washington.
“They have nothing to do with education, and everything to do with finances.” — Unfortunately those finances come with strings attached. — DO THIS OR NO FUNDS.
Can we add the Department of Energy on the list please?
I can’t for the life of me determine what use they are other than to fund boondoggles like Solyndra.
Not true. It's an extortion racket. They demand adoption of every "progressive" PC fad in return for Federal funds. The youth interest in Bernie Sanders is the direct result. We have a LOT of education of these young people to do to undo the damage the DOE has done; else in the future we WILL be looking at Hillary as a centrist candidate.
Dept of Educ definitely needs to go. Along with EPA and a few others.
Bflr. Too much on the agenda today starting in a few minutes, so will read later to see how I can participate in this most necessary of movements.
Correct. The problem is that the states and local school jurisdictions are willing to prostitute themselves in exchange for “free Federal money”
I am of the opinion that according to the Constitution, there are only three areas where the federal government has anything to do with education.
1) Define what it means with regards to Federal employment. For example a High School diploma means this and a higher education (BS or BA) means that.
2) Define a means of inter-state exchange of education. Like #1, a means of standardizing transfers of education credits between states. I would assume that this would be in the form of a standardized test by subject.
3) If the federal government wants to use education assistance as employment benefit - GI bill, tuition reimbursement, programs to exchange service for education
No Pell grants
No loans (full disclosure - I am currently using a FASFA loan)
2a) If we are going to keep grants and loans at the federal level, define what it means to be accepted to college and qualify for a loan or grant
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