LewRockwell By Ron Paul, MD
President Trump’s executive order from last week titled “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities” could help bring about a major step toward restoring constitutional government and improving education.
The executive order directs that the secretary of education, “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities.” This action is directed to be taken, though, “while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
The order points out that the Department of Education was created in 1979. Thus, the American people somehow managed for a long time to educate children without a federal education department! They could certainly do so again.
The federal government introduced significant funding to local schools the 1950s. Some of this early funding was targeted at science education and was a response to the Soviet Union’s launch of the Sputnik satellite. The first major legislation providing funding for, and imposing regulations on, local government schools became law in 1965.
The Department of Education has been given nearly 50 years to work on improving education. Yet, instead of the Department of Education ushering in an education golden era, education in America has declined. According to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, approximately 70 percent of eighth graders are below proficiency in reading, while around 72 percent are below proficiency in math.
The problem is not that the federal government spends too little on education. Further, Washington, DC imposing another “reform” on schools will only ensure that more children are left behind. The real problem is education funding is controlled by politicians and bureaucrats who impose a “one-size-fits-all” model on schools…
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