Get the Government out of the Classroom

by
Ron Paul
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President-elect Trump has nominated former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon for Secretary of Education. President-elect Trump promised that, if confirmed, Mrs. McMahon would “spearhead” the effort to “send education back to the states.” This has led some people to wonder if Linda McMahon may be the last Secretary of Education.

The Constitution does not give the federal government any role in education. Instead, education is left in the hands of state and local governments and private citizens. For almost 200 years American children were provided with education largely free of US government interference.

In the 1950s, a significant federal intervention in education was created as a response to fears that America was losing the “space race” to the Soviet Union and thus needed to improve science education. In this instance, the Cold War contributed to the growth of federal government involvement in education.

The Department of Education was created in 1979. Since then, presidents, both Republican and Democrat, have expanded federal funding and control of education with little or no improvement in student performance. Anger over their children being denied a year or more of education over fears of covid caused many parents to abandon government schools. Many other parents began challenging the use of schools to indoctrinate children in “woke” ideology. Some of these parents started attending school board meetings and running for school boards.

Woke education also caused more parents to abandon government schools. The key to improving education quality and stopping schools from promoting a political agenda is restoring control over education to those most concerned that children receive a quality education and who best know children’s unique needs and abilities: parents.

The best way to empower parents is to restore parents’ control over the education dollar. Fortunately, President-elect Trump has proposed adding a 10,000 dollars tax credit for homeschooling parents to the tax legislation Congress will consider next year. Tax credits should also be made available for private school tuition and any educational expenses — such as supplies, tutoring, or costs related to participation in an extracurricular activity — of parents who choose to send their children to government schools. Tax credits should also be available for donations to programs helping low-income students attend private schools. Education tax credits should be paired with cuts in the Department of Education. Americans will always spend generously on education. The question is who should control the education dollar: politicians and bureaucrats or parents.

Parents looking for a homeschooling curriculum that provides a well-rounded education that incorporates the ideas of liberty should consider my online curriculum. Instead of indoctrinating students with critical race theory, transgenderism, or neoconservatism, my curriculum provides students with a solid education in history, literature, mathematics, and the sciences. It also gives students the opportunity to create their own websites and internet-based businesses. This provides students with “real world” entrepreneurial experience that will be useful to them no matter what career path they choose.

The curriculum is designed to be self-taught, with students helping and learning from each other via online forums. Starting in fourth grade, students are required to write at least one essay a week. Students post their essays on their blogs. Students also take a course in public speaking.

The curriculum does emphasize the history, philosophy, and economics of liberty, but it never substitutes indoctrination for education. The goal is to produce students with superior critical thinking skills.

Originally published by the Ron Paul Institute.