On October 17, 1979, President Jimmy Carter finally gave birth to a baby known as the Department of Education. The spawn was promptly nicknamed DoED.
After 100 years of political pressure and several failed delivery attempts, President Carter was able to crib a federally-controlled office of education within the cabinet-level Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
In 1980 the department was elevated to cabinet-level entity with Congress appropriating an annual budget of $14 billion and 17,000 employees. That’s quite a growth spurt!
Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution
At the time, many opposed the formation of the government-controlled education department, including 1980 Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan. Some even argued that it was unconstitutional.
They were correct. Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution is there a mention of education. The Founders deliberately gave We the People a form of governance called a republic.
Its foundation is one of self-governance, which means local matters are the concerns of the citizens not the federal government. In fact, under the original tenets of the U.S. Constitution, any federal overreach into local affairs would have been illegal.
Through the election of George H. W. Bush, decades of statist infiltration into the DoED, and a teacher’s union powerhouse (National Education Association), plans for a deep state takeover of education of American children was hatched.
Goals 2000 was an outcomes-based education initiative implemented during Bush’s tenure. It was the beginning of the end of American exceptionalism. Parents subsequently lost their voice to determine what their children were taught and who was teaching them.
Thirty years later constitutionalists are still crying foul, as they should. Our children are being indoctrinated to accept socialism, decry the U.S. Constitution, and reject our republic. The Department of Education has failed our children by inserting an insidious education agenda to change America as we know it.
The Best Birthday Gift
In 1787 the Founders gave Americans a constitutional birthday gift. It is beautifully wrapped with a patriotic bow. Inside is the second clause of Article V.
The Convention of States movement intends to open the Article V gift to limit the federal government’s power and jurisdiction. It may be the only effective solution to decentralize a bureaucratic education system and return educational decisions to the states, parents, and students.
