Department of Education Organization Act?

On May 4, 1980 The Department of Education Organization Act was passed by Congress.

I was nine years old.  Can someone who was of voting age at that time tell me how this happened?

The established mission of this “organization” is as follows…

• Strengthen the Federal commitment to assuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual;
• Supplement and complement the efforts of states, the local school systems and other instrumentalities of the states, the private sector, public and private nonprofit educational research institutions, community-based organizations, parents, and students to improve the quality of education;
• Encourage the increased involvement of the public, parents, and students in Federal education programs;
• Promote improvements in the quality and usefulness of education through Federally supported research, evaluation, and sharing of information;
• Improve the coordination of Federal education programs;
• Improve the management of Federal education activities; and
• Increase the accountability of Federal education programs to the President, the Congress, and the public.

Nowhere in my research (I am just a common man), did I find the authorization for the federal government to put its’ nose into the states educational system.   What the federal government is currently doing is collecting our tax dollars on a national level, and then redistributing them back to the states as carrots in order to get them to line up and educate our children by some national standards (like NCLB among MANY others).  I am using Article 1, section 8 as my reference point for the items that the Congress is authorized to make laws about.  To make things worse this is even a Cabinet Position in the executive branch of government.

This organization has an annual budget of about $60 billion and since its’ inception, the quality of our educational systems has steadily declined.   This could be a coincidence and my thinking could be wrong, but what I can tell you is that it surely hasn’t improved and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.  The Department of Education holds between 9-12% of a schools educational budget “hostage” and if the school is in non-compliance with the standards and regulations set by these unelected “officials” this money is withheld from the school.   Not only does this not seem fair, there is no basis for this organization to even exist.

These funds could stay at the state level and be used and controlled by the state legislatures and governors, who are regularly elected and an be held accountable for their decisions.  The DOE can run amok with this $60 billion and not even be accountable for its’ use.

We had a promise or two from a President and another candidate in the 80’s to disband this organization, but it never happened.

I really wish we had a State/Commonwealth that had enough gumption to challenge the constitutionality of the Department of Education and take it to the Supreme Court and return the complete control of the education of our children to where it belongs…at the state level.