The Tenther Grapevine
Americans for Limited Government writes about No Child Left Behind. Another example of the states being bribed, with our money, to ignore the Constitution. Another opportunity for a strongly enforced Tenth Amendment to make a difference.
By Chris Slavens
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), signed into law by Bush in 2002, relied on financial coercion to improve state education standards and school district performance, with a focus on reading and math. This federal mandate, oddly supported by Republican lawmakers despite its obvious violation of limited government principles and states’ rights, was unnecessary and, according to some, unconstitutional.
Eight years later, the Obama administration wants to rewrite the act and pass a new law that will increase Washington’s role in the public school system and empower federal officials to address its perceived problems.
The success of private and charter schools is proof that the problem in education is the scope of government involvement itself, not the inadequacies of superintendents, principals, or teachers, as federal lawmakers would have us believe. American public schools are staffed by highly qualified individuals, many holding master’s degrees and Ph.D.’s, who know exactly what they’re doing. Their biggest obstacle to effective teaching is not lack of funding, but nose-poking bureaucrats whose educational philosophies are faulty at best, and more often intentionally injurious.
Go read the rest here.
Steve Palmer is the State Chapter Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Tenth Amendment Center.
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Interesting article. My belief is that education is not the role of federal government. However, I do not believe all the ills, or even the worst of them, are attributable to federal government involvement. There is much more going on here.
School performance is largely traceable to the mix of students served. In poor neighborhoods, schools are less effective than in wealthy ones. It is hard to blame teachers or governments for this. It is a cultural and wealth issue.
In Houston, we see the distinctions in performance quite easily. Inner city schools suck, and schools in rising suburbs are better. Or, I should say, student performance varies this way.
For years, the talk has been, "What can government do?" and "Where do we need to spend more money?" These questions ignore reality.
If we want to see student performance at particular schools improve, there are two paths: (1) close all old apartment complexes and below-average housing and effectively move out the lower-performing students, so that the school is left with a higher mix of students who come from families that tend to emphasize education more, or (2) do something to change the culture of people who think education is less important to getting by in life.
In either case, reality predominates, and neither will happen. So, the big issue will be what to do with our future ditch diggers of America. Perhaps we need to look at policies that make ditch digging not quite as bad, such as reducing illegal immigration, so that American ditch diggers can merit a wage that provides a decent living.
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