21 Ways to Restore Local AND Parental Control of Education
By Cherilyn B. Eagar
Federal/National
1. Stop further Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorizations. Return to pre-1965 policies.
2. Discontinue further choice/charter school (private public partnership/ privatization) grants.
3. Phase out and defund federal control of education, setting a reasonable timeline to dismantle the US Department of Education and leaving only an oversight office composed of elected officials, one from each state, to monitor corporate and government activities related to data collection or any other activities formerly carried out by the Department of Education.
4. Phase out block grants. Why should the taxpayer send $1.00 to the federal government, only to get back 80 cents or less? The only purpose is so that the federal government can continue to control and redistribute the money.
5. Challenge and discontinue the unconstitutional and illegal administration of national tests. The Carnegie Corporation-developed National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) originated in 1967 in spite of the federal law that prohibits a national test and direct influence on curriculum. Carnegie Corporation got around the law in part by arguing that it was only a statistical sampling.
6. End the federal funding of regional educational laboratories that also remove local control.
7. Prohibit collection of private, personal data. Privacy laws must be strengthened, not weakened. This data should not be allowed beyond the local school and only released upon request for application either to another school or for college application/entrance. No access should be allowed by any other public or private entity.
8. Phase out the practice of tax-funded research grants to state colleges and universities. This is the source of the socialization of our higher education system and constantly changing classroom practices. If a research effort is worthy of exploring, it needs to be done by state or private funding.
9. Pursue an anti-trust and/or class action lawsuit against the private enterprise that also receives massive public funding– the College Board. Break up that monopoly and restore colleges’ and universities’ development and administration of their own entrance exams unique and individual to each school.
State/Local
10. Require partisan school board and superintendent elections. In Utah, considered one of the top two most “Republican” states in the nation, it is estimated that 70% of most school boards, state and district, vote Democratic in funding and education policy. No school board/superintendent should be appointed by any means, including pre-selected candidates for a run-off at any level. Individual school districts should have an elected school board. Charter schools and site-based councils are taxation without representation.
11. Keep the funding tied to the geographical tax base, where the school physically resides, in order to restore neighborhood school district accountability. This is the definition of local control.
12. End federal funding of state schools by restoring local control of state trust lands. This property, when sold, should be allocated to the local school where that property is located.
13. As soon as the state is free of federal control, rethink consolidated school districts and allow local neighborhood school districts to develop their own standards and curricula with direct accountability to the local tax base.
14. Prohibit local unions from forcing participation and using dues for political purposes.
15. Prohibit vouchers — or anything like them — that mingle public funds with private sector funds. That is taxation without representation.
16. Phase out open enrollment and choice/charter schools in two phases: First, do not create additional charters. Then, by developing a reasonable transition plan under which current charters must build up their own development and self-fund by a certain cut-off date and become private or go out of business. This will have the intended consequence of restoring the private, independent school and real competition in the private market, as well as eliminating taxation without representation.
Individual
17. Consider removing your children from schools that receive public subsidies, including public-private partnership (P3) schools (also known as school choice/charter/voucher schools) until the public schools have readjusted to local control. Research private and home school options to confirm they are not aligned with Common Core standards, behavioral tests, or sharing your student’s records with databases accessed by unauthorized outside entities.
18. Have confidence that if it is your decision it is possible to teach a child the basics at home. If parents are concerned about “socialization” beyond their own family unit, find appropriate extracurricular activities in the private sector, and they will have adequate social interaction.
19. Teach your children correct principles and forewarn them. Students must know that if they enter a college or university that takes federal money, they will be taught ideals that your family or religious beliefs might not support, and that it is likely that they could graduate from that system indoctrinated to a more socialist/secular humanist view.
20. Avoid sending your children to private colleges and universities that accept public, tax dollars through research and student grants. Write letters to the colleges of your choice and let them know where you stand and that you will not consider them unless the policies change.
21. Have the courage to educate and inform the legislative, business and church communities one-on-one. Help them understand how they will be adversely affected by these federally proposed reforms and that the curriculum will be teaching their future employees to rise up and unionize against them.
In the immortal words of C.S. Lewis: “Vocational training… prepares the pupil not for leisure, but for work; it aims at making not a good man but a good banker, a good electrician, a good scavenger, or a good surgeon. You see at once that education is essentially for free men and vocational training for slaves.”
Cherilyn B. Eagar is a professional actor and singer, and has dedicated her adult life to promoting conservative principles. She has served on political and non-profit boards, and worked as a lobbyist for family issues. In 2011, Cherilyn was named Wasatch Woman of the Year in Community Service, being recognized as the first Republican woman to run for the US Senate from Utah as well as her lifetime of service to community and charitable causes. Cherilyn and her husband, Randy, reside in Holladay, Utah and are parents to seven children and grandparents of twelve.