[TigersEye]

Here are your words: "...perhaps the Mass. constitution exceeds the authority granted to the States by the federal Constitution". That sounds to me like you're claiming that the Federal Constitution is granting rights to the states and that the states are dependent on the Federal government for those rights.

I don't know why it sounds like that to you. It didn't sound like that to me when I wrote it. ; )

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

What does this sound like ... to you? You believe that government has the power to dictate educational standards to parents. I don't. The excerpt of the Mass. constitution, written by John Adams, that you posted does not clearly state a power of the State to control education, IMO. It sounds to me like it defines a duty to help and gives a good reason to do so. We will probably disagree about that and it is doubtful that either of us will change our minds unless some more compelling information is presented one way or the other.

[ConstitutionLover]

It not only sounds to me but it is, in fact, referring to the U.S. Constitution, specifically the 10th amendment, prohibiting certain powers from being exercised by states. It has nothing to do with granting authority to the states, only with restricting states from exercising their authority. The U.S. Constitution is moot on public education, doesn't prohibit Massachusetts from exercising its authority and therefore has no bearing on the issue.

I happen to agree with the Massachusetts Constitution when it states that an educated public is "NECESSARY for the preservation of their rights and liberties." It says "necessary", not "desirable", not "adviseable" but "necessary"! If the education of the public is "necessary" and if the government is, as I believe, primarily entrusted with preserving our "rights and liberties", then it is the duty of the government not only to help but to insure that each citizen is being educated to some extent.