State Control Over Education

State Control Over Education

Amendment X (The Tenth Amendment) of the United States, which is part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, 1791. The Tenth Amendment restates the Constitution’s principle of Federalism by providing that, “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” There are sound reasons for the national government to encourage States to become the instruments of national policy, rather than to implement the program directly, even though Congress has the power to regulate or implement these programs. One advantage is that state implementation of federal programs at the state level tends to limit the growth of the national bureaucracy. Another advantage is that implementation of national programs places implementation in the hands of local officials who are closer to local circumstances. (Wikipedia)

For these reasons, Congress often seeks to exercise its powers by encouraging or offering the States to implement national programs consistent with national minimum standards, a system known as Cooperative Federalism. One example of this device’s exercise was the allocation of federal funding conditionally made where certain state laws don’t conform to federal guidelines. For example, federal educational funds may not be accepted without implementation of special education programs in compliance with IDEA. (Individuals with Disabilities Act) (Wikipedia)

Although there is no specific provision made for education in the United States Constitution, the Constitution does instruct that …”The powers not delegated to the United States Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” (The Tenth Amendment)

If education is reserved to the states, or to the people, why do we have a cabinet level United States Department of Education (US DOE)? Doesn’t this violate the United States Constitution? Apparently, US DOE was created during the Carter Administration as a political payoff to the teacher unions for their support of Jimmy Carter for president. Further inquiry reveals that the US DOE was established to help and support states in the area of education. Others feel that the US DOE was created to move control of education from the state level to the federal level in direct violation of the 10th Amendment. (Stuter, L., 2003).

On April 16, 2007 a group of men introduced a bill to the Committee on Education and Labor. In Section 1, the bill was to restore state sovereignty over public elementary and secondary education. This was called the “Local Control of Education Act of 2007.” In Section 2, Congress’s finding was that the creation, support, funding, operation, maintenance and all other aspects of secondary and elementary education are “residual core sovereign functions” reserved to the control of the States under the United States Constitution, as expressed in the 10th Amendment. In Section 3, the Rule of Construction states that “this Act shall be liberally construed and shall be vigorously and promptly enforced so as to ensure the preservation of the State’s core sovereign authority over all aspects of elementary and secondary education under the United States Constitution, as expressed in the 10th Amendment. In Section 4, the Restoration of State Sovereignty with respect to certain Federal Education Funds states the following:
(a) “Funding to States-
(1) IN GENERAL – With respect to any program under which Federal funds may be provided to a State under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), unless the legislature of the State has by law expressly and specifically authorized operation of the program and, in doing so, has waived the State’s rights and authorities to act inconsistently with any requirement that might be imposed by the Federal Government as a condition of receiving Federal funds under the program-
(A) the Secretary of Education may not provide any funds to the State pursuant to the program;
(B) no officer, employee, or other authority of the Federal Government shall enforce against an authority of the State, nor shall any authority of the State have any obligation to obey, any requirement of the program; and
(C) the program shall not operate within the State.
(2) TERM OF AUTHORIZATION – If a State enacts (and does not repeal or otherwise terminate (a law authorizing operation of an education program described in paragraph (1), such authorization shall have effect for purposes of paragraph (1) until the later of-
(A) the end of the 5-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of the law; or
(B) the end of any regular legislative session of the State that begins during the last year of such 5-year period and is ongoing at the end of such period.
(b) Funding to Local Governmental Entities – With respect to any program under which Federal funds may be provided to a local governmental entity (including any local educational agency, public kindergarten, public elementary school, or public secondary school) under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), the Secretary of Education may not provide any funds to the local governmental entity under such program unless the chief law enforcement officer of the State involved certifies that participation by the entity in the program is consistent with any applicable requirements under the law of the State.” (http://www.theorator.com/bills110/text/hr1847.html)

In conclusion, States have control over all educational issues and concerns, except when our national government determines that they need to intervene. An excellent example of this intervention occurred in 1954 with the Brown versus the Board of Education. The federal government found it necessary to send in military troops in order to protect students and citizens. Basically, the government “played their trump card” and overrode the tenth amendment with the 14th Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause.” The segregation was alleged to deprive the plaintiffs of the equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment. “Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments.” The federal government can and will intervene, only if necessary, and you can be assured the intervention will be justified legally in a court of law. (http://www.nationalcenter.org/brown.html)