1999 Ron Paul 109:1 Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Chairman, those who wish to
diminish federal control over education should
cast an unenthusiastic yes vote for the Academic
Achievement for All Students Freedom
and Accountability Act (STRAIGHT “A’s”).
While this bill does increase the ability of state
and local governments to educate children
free from federal mandates and regulations,
and is thus a marginal improvement over existing
federal law, STRAIGHT “A’s” fails to
challenge the federal government’s unconstitutional
control of education. In fact, under
STRAIGHT “A’s” states and local school districts
will still be treated as administrative subdivisions
of the federal education bureaucracy.
Furthermore, this bill does not remove the
myriad requirements imposed on states and
local school districts by federal bureaucrats in
the name of promoting “civil rights.” Thus, a
school district participating in STRAIGHT “A’s”
will still have to place children in failed bilingual
education programs or face the wrath of
the Department of Education’s misnamed Office
of Civil Rights.
1999 Ron Paul 109:2 The fact that this bill increases, however
marginally, the ability of states and localities to
control education, is a step forward. As long
as the federal government continues to levy
oppressive taxes on the American people, and
then funnel that money back to the states to
use for education programs, defenders of the
Constitution should support all efforts to reduce
the hoops through which states must
jump in order to reclaim some of the people’s
tax monies.
1999 Ron Paul 109:3 However, there are a number of both practical
and philosophical concerns regarding this
bill. While the additional flexibility granted
under this bill will be welcomed by the ten
states allowed by the federal overseers to participate
in the program, there is no justification
to deny this flexibility to the remaining forty
states. After all, federal education money represents
the return of funds illegitimately taken
from the American taxpayers to their states
and communities. It is the pinnacle of arrogance
for Congress to pick and choose which
states are worthy of relief from federal strings
in how they use what is, after all, the people’s
money.
1999 Ron Paul 109:4 The primary objection to STRAIGHT “A’s”
from a constitutional viewpoint, is embedded
in the very mantra of “accountability” stressed
by the drafters of the bill. Talk of accountability
begs the question: accountable to whom?
Under this bill, schools remain accountable to
federal bureaucrats and those who develop
the state tests upon which a participating
school’s performance is judged. Should the
schools not live up to their bureaucratically-determined
“performance goals,” they will lose
the flexibility granted to them under this act.
So federal and state bureaucrats will determine
if the schools are to be allowed to participate
in the STRAIGHT “A’s” programs and
bureaucrats will judge whether the states are
living up to the standards set in the state’s
five-year education plan — yet this is supposed
to debureaucratize and decentralize education!
1999 Ron Paul 109:5 Under the United States Constitution, the
federal government has no authority to hold
states “accountable” for their education performance.
In the free society envisioned by
the founders, schools are held accountable to
parents, not federal bureaucrats. However, the
current system of leveling oppressive taxes on
America’s families and using those taxes to
fund federal education programs denies parental
control of education by denying them
control over the education dollar. Because “he
who pays the piper calls the tune,” when the
federal government controls the education dollar
schools will obey the dictates of federal
“educrats” while ignoring the wishes of the
parents.
1999 Ron Paul 109:6 In order to provide parents with the means
to hold schools accountable, I have introduced
the Family Education Freedom Act (H.R. 935).
The Family Education Freedom Act restores
parental control over the classroom by providing
American parents a tax credit of up to
$3,000 for the expenses incurred in sending
their child to private, public, parochial, other
religious school, or for home schooling their
children.
1999 Ron Paul 109:7 The Family Education Freedom Act returns
the fundamental principal of a truly free economy
to America’s education system: what the
great economist Ludwig von Mises called
“consumer sovereignty.” Consumer sovereignty
simply means consumers decide who
succeeds or fails in the market. Businesses
that best satisfy consumer demand will be the
most successful. Consumer sovereignty is the
means by which the free society maximizes
human happiness.
1999 Ron Paul 109:8 When parents control the education dollar,
schools must be responsive to parental demands
that their children receive first-class
educations, otherwise, parents will find alternative
means to educate their children. Furthermore,
parents whose children are in public
schools may use their credit to improve their
schools by helping to finance the purchase of
educational tools such as computers or extracurricular
activities such as music programs.
Parents of public school students may also
wish to use the credit to pay for special services
for their children.
1999 Ron Paul 109:9 It is the Family Education Freedom Act, not
STRAIGHT “A’s”, which represents the education
policy best suited for a constitutional republic
and a free society. The Family Education
Freedom Act ensures that schools are
accountable to parents, whereas STRAIGHT
“A’s” continues to hold schools accountable to
bureaucrats.
1999 Ron Paul 109:10 Since the STRAIGHT “A’s” bill does give
states an opportunity to break free of some
federal mandates, supporters of returning the
federal government to its constitutional limits
should support it. However, they should keep
in mind that this bill represents a minuscule
step forward as it fails to directly challenge the
federal government’s usurpation of control
over education. Instead, this bill merely gives
states greater flexibility to fulfill federally-defined
goals. Therefore, Congress should continue
to work to restore constitutional government
and parental control of education by
defunding all unconstitutional federal programs
and returning the money to America’s parents
so that they may once again control the education
of their children.
Note:
1999 Ron Paul 109:4
bureaucratically-determined probably
should be unhyphenated: bureaucratically determined.
1999 Ron Paul 109:5
leveling oppressive taxes
probably should be
levying oppressive taxes.
