A grassroots network of citizens and activists with children all across America, known as United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE), just unveiled a blueprint to shut down the U.S. Department of Education and end unconstitutional federal mandates imposed on schools. The goal: Returning control over education to parents and local communities, for the benefit of everyone. At the center of that effort will be H.R. 899 by Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), legislation that would shutter the unconstitutional federal department over the next year.
The non-profit USPIE organization, which has state chapters across the country, notes in the new document that dramatic increases in federal intervention and funding of public education since the 1960s have not improved education. Instead, in many respects, it has gotten worse. “The evidence is inarguable, the federal government’s intervention in education has been a dismal failure,” says the blueprint, titled “USPIE Blueprint to Close USED and End Federal Education Mandates.”
The plan includes five key steps to end federal intervention. First, all program management and funding, including Pell Grants for college, would be returned to the states. Secondly, all federal statutes purporting to authorize federal intervention in K-12 education must be repealed — starting with the monstrous “Every Student Succeeds Act” (ESSA) that, according to then-Education Secretary Arne Duncan, enshrined Obama’s entire “education” agenda into (unconstitutional) federal law for the first time. Next, all college loan programs must be privatized. Then, all offices and divisions of the U.S. Education Department need to be shut down, as well as related spending. And finally, all federal taxes and revenue collection for education programs would be ended, shifting the responsibility away from the federal government that never should have gotten involved.
Sheri Few, who heads the parent group USPIE, said “the fight against Common Core exposed the failures of a federally-based, one-size-fits-all curriculum on states and local school districts. With the continued federal usurpation of state education authority through the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and guidelines from the U.S. Department of Education (USED), it is time to end the unconstitutional authority assumed by the USED. For half a century now this experiment with federal control of local public schools has gone on and it’s failed.”
USPIE Communications Director April Few explained that the blueprint is being well received. “The USPIE Research Committee spent countless hours constructing this blueprint and it has already gained the support of several members of Congress and education policy think tanks,” she said. “Serious conversations are happening throughout the country about the legitimate and effective role of the federal government in education. It will take a grassroots effort to accomplish our goal of ending the U.S. Department of Education and all federal education mandates, and that’s why our members are so valuable. We are men and women battling to protect America’s children and our Nation, and we are excited at what the future holds.”
Some activists fighting against the federally prescribed psychological abuse being perpetrated against children in government schools suggested that the fight must be broader — and that urgent steps are needed to protect children right this moment. “By the time any sort of legislation would pass Congress, every day our children are being exposed to psychological conditioning techniques and data-mining named in the ESSA legislation codified by Congress,” said Anita Hoge, the director of research and development for a new campaign to quash ESSA dubbed “Child Abuse in the Classroom.”
Among other goals, Hoge said repealing the implementation of ESSA and reinstating privacy protections were crucial and must be pursued now. The respected education researcher also highlighted the Orwellian “Institute of Education Sciences” at the U.S. Education Department, which she said is now essentially a “national school board that has total authority of analyzing data compliance.” It must be disbanded, she argued.
Echoing comments by former senior advisor Charlotte Iserbyt who served during the Reagan administration and exposed the deliberate dumbing down of American children, Hoge said merely abolishing the U.S. Department of Education would not stop the violation of children’s rights and privacy. “Repeal ESSA and Restore FERPA,” Hoge concluded. “Protect our kids. They have no armor to shield them from abuse.”
This plan to shut down the U.S. Department of Education is desperately needed. This unconstitutional agency has been crucial to the establishment’s centralization and corruption of the nation, and disbanding it will be an important step toward making America literate and knowledgeable again. But in the meantime, parents should all take urgent steps to protect their own children. While it may sound cliché, the fight begins with you. Join the effort to save America by restoring proper education today.
Alex Newman serves in an unpaid capacity on the USPIE Advisory Board.
