Most Americans want less government, smaller government and lower taxes. The only way to accomplish this is by abolishing federal departments and bureaucracies. As far back as the Reagan administration, Republicans promised to abolish the Department of Education. They couldn’t do it then because they lacked a majority in Congress. But whatever happened to the plan to abolish the Department of Education when Republicans became the majority? Not only did they forget their promise, but in September 1996 they passed the single largest increase in federal education funding: $3.5 billion. Who were the Republicans trying to impress? The National Education Association?

The basic question is: Can good education be provided in the United States, without the help or intrusion of the federal government? The answer is clearly yes. In fact, there is ample evidence indicating that the present decline in educational quality is tied to federal funding, which has been used by the educators to fund more and more expensive educational malpractice.

A little historical background will help us understand why the federal role in education in America is more of an aberration than a natural development. There is no mention of education in the U.S. Constitution. However, in 1785 and 1787, while the United States were still under the Articles of Confederation, the Continental Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance Acts, which provided for the orderly settlement of the Northwest Territory and encouraged the establishment of schools in the territory by stating: “Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be encouraged.” The new states were required to set aside the 16th section of each township to be used for educational purposes. But there was no requirement that the schools be government owned and operated.

Seventy-five years later, in 1862, Congress passed and President Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act providing each loyal state with 30,000 acres of land for each Senator and Representative, the land to be used for agricultural and mechanical schools under a measure proposed by Senator Justin S. Morrill of Vermont. Five years later, in 1867, a federal Office of Education was established. Its purpose was:

To collect such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories, and to diffuse such information respecting the organization and management of schools and school systems, and methods of teaching as shall aid the People of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country.