Education and Federal Intrusion
Gregory P. Hawkins

A Nation at Risk

In 1983, The National Commission on Excellence in Education published a scathing rebuke of our nation’s educational system titled, A Nation at Risk. The Commission’s conclusion left no room for misunderstanding, “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war.” Unfortunately, the report’s recommendations for improvement opened the floodgates for federal intervention.

For twenty years since that report the debate over how to educate our children has grown increasingly labyrinthine and ever more emotional. Labyrinthine because public education has become a maze of overlapping and oftentimes contradictory programs and federal edicts, each of which seem to push us further into the morass of mediocrity. And it will always remain justifiably emotional because the raw materials as well as the finished products are children.

Federal Domination of Public Education Increases the Risk

Amid all the turmoil and confusion, one of the most significant steps in the right direction is unmistakably apparent. The federal government needs to remove itself from the public education business. In the words of Ronald Reagan, "Education is the principal responsibility of local school systems, teachers, parents, citizen boards, and state governments."

The argument for federal control revolves around the concept that because education - like national security - is in the national public interest, it can only be entrusted to the federal government, with its vastly superior resources.

While it sounds logical, this rationale for central control has failed miserably on its merits and its history. A central authority, far removed from the impact of its decrees but with nearly total authority to dictate without contradiction, cannot help but fail. And the proof is unmistakable. As federal control and management of primary and secondary schools increased over the past 20 years, test scores for basic educational skills, such as reading, mathematics and science, have fallen far short of reasonable expectations.

Failed Expectations

When compared to other countries our educational performance remains disappointing. Consider the 1999, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study-Repeat (TIMSS-R):
Ranked American 8th graders 19th out of 38 countries in mathematics, behind Malaysia, the Russian Federation and Bulgaria.
18th out of 38 countries in science.

An evaluation by the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2000 spotlights the reasons for America’s dreary performance on the world stage:
Only 32% of 4th graders possess basic proficiency in reading.
26% in mathematics.
29% in science.

More Money is Not the Holy Grail for Improvement

Money has proven ineffective. Between 1982 and 1992, real (inflation-adjusted) per-pupil spending grew from $5,930 to $8,008. This is an increase of 35 percent in 10 years, in excess of inflation. It reached $9,230 in 2000. Yet, in 1999, the National Research Council, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education, concluded that “additional funding for education will not automatically and necessarily generate student achievement and in the past has not, in fact, generally led to higher achievement.”

And today, teachers are less qualified than in the past:
The share of teachers with a baccalaureate degree in a subject area fell from 28 percent to 23 percent between 1982 and 1999.
The share of teachers with a master’s degree in a subject area fell even more sharply—from 17 percent to 5 percent between 1982 and 1999.
The percentage of teachers who have a degree (either a baccalaureate or a master’s) in math or science fell from about 7 percent to 5 percent between 1982 and 1999.
In 1982, the average teacher had taken almost six semesters of math and science in college; by 1999, the average teacher had taken only four semesters.

Layers of Bureaucracy Cannot Teach a Child or Inspire a Teacher

In my conversations with hundreds of Utah educators a single principle filtered through every discussion. Teachers who feel empowered and valued invariably rise to new heights of teaching distinction. Average teachers become good teachers and good teachers become great teachers. Empowered teachers light the spark of excellence within our children.

Forms, reports, compliance and all the baggage of federal supervision defeat the effort. Teachers cannot function as auditors, accountants or proctors for government programs. In most instances teachers choose the profession because they are driven to teach, to influence the lives of children. A teacher enabled to function as a teacher by definition is empowered and valued.

Removing the federal shadow from our schools restarts the process of empowering teachers. A top-down, bureaucratic monopoly cannot succeed. Autocracy rarely, if ever, inspires excellence.

In any educational system only a teacher can reach a child and ignite the spark of learning. All others, from janitors to administrators, function as support staff. The ill-conceived concept that increased federal involvement - with its layers upon layers of administrative staff - would provide teachers with a feeling of unparalleled support represented a vain imagination at best. Rather the layers weigh heavily on teachers’ shoulders, for practical purposes demeaning teachers and overwhelming their capacity to teach.

“Twenty years ago, we learned from ‘A Nation at Risk’ that we were metaphorically at war,” wrote Stanford University Education Professor Pam Grossman in the Harvard Education Letter. “Twenty years later, teachers are still fighting for professional recognition and respect.”

We’re From the Federal Government. We’re Here to Help?

Notwithstanding the federal government’s continued assurances that they will get this education thing straightened out, we cannot afford their help. With the federal track record established beyond dispute, even just a few more federal programs, a few more unfunded mandates, maybe a little more money but with a few strings attached are not acceptable.

Again, Ronald Reagan correctly perceived a crucial key to educational excellence by advocating that the federal government "insure that local needs and preferences, rather than the wishes of Washington, determine the education of our children." We have gone far astray from that counsel.

The greatest threat to education would be if the federal government decided to “get it right” once and for all. Now that’s a scary thought. In questions of education beware the phrase: “We’re from the federal government. We’re here to help.”

Renewed Hope for Educational Excellence

Across the nation, district school administrators, as well as state education officials, are starting to question federal dictates, not enough but it is a beginning. Competition and choice, both anathema to the federal monopolistic authority, are gaining support, not simply with parents, but with educational professionals at all levels. Both offer exceptional and long-term opportunities for renewed education excellence, for students and public education as a whole. (See also Choice in Education.)

Extricating the federal government’s tentacles from state and local educational efforts will require the dedication of parents, teachers and administrators, and the tireless efforts of those they send to Washington as their representatives. Choose carefully.

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