Local Control of Education
- Frequently Asked Questions -

1. When you talk about disengaging from the federal funding of schools, what exactly do you mean? By disengaging, I mean a gradual transition such that a school becomes independent of federal funding and federal control.

2. No longer complying with No Child Left Behind or receiving Title I dollars, etc.? If federal funds were not taken, the NCLB mandates, constraints and philosophies would not apply. Remember, the states have control constitutionally over education, not the federal government.

3. How would that work practically? After a school board understands the value of freedom from federal control, it is a matter of adjusting the budgets to promote that freedom. Are there any school boards that want to promote freedom? 21% of the ND people do, so perhaps 21% of the school boards do or could be taught the value of freedom from federal control.

If school boards want to understand more about how federal money means federal control and how that negatively impacts education, families and the state of North Dakota , a presentation of those details can be provided. One reference for that presentation is the insightful speech given by J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937), Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, and founder of both Westminster Theological Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, to a Joint Committee of the United States Congress with important reasons for not forming the U.S. Department of Education. He pointed out that…

Standardized education is based on the assumption that people are essentially machines and can be mass educated; similar to the mass production of automobiles in a factory. However, since people are not machines, but created by God to love and serve Him and others, standardized secularized education functions to significantly limit education and enslave people.

“That uniformity in education under central control it seems to me is the worst fate into which any country can fall…It is perfectly clear of course, that if any such principle of Federal aid in education is established, the individual liberty of the States is gone, because I think we can lay it down as a general rule, with which everyone who has examined the course of education recently will agree, that money given for education, no matter what people say, always has a string tied to it.”

The DPI Worksheet for Estimating School District Revenue has a section titled, FEDERAL SOURCES which contains: Vocational Programs, Special Education Programs, Title I Program Aid, Title II Professional Development Programs, Title VII Innovative Programs, Title V Innovative Programs, Child Nutrition Programs, Title XIII Impact Aid, and Other Federal Revenue. Each of these budget lines could be zeroed out as the school board developed better local alternatives.

For example, is the federal government and its inherently inefficient bureaucracy built by special interest industry groups really needed to get a child a healthy lunch, or is this really serving the various industry groups and a view toward implementing socialism and globalism? Should we teach children to be dependent on the government for their food? Weren’t their parents taught in school how to provide for themselves and how to make a healthy meal? After all, that is what the US Supreme Court considers the state’s interest, that is - making sure children are prepared for an occupation so they can support themselves (1972 WI v. Yoder).

4. Where would schools make up the difference, particularly since they fund a lot of special education programs through federal dollars?

The churches are the proper institution to handle the poor and needy issues, not the state. Most pastors are aware of this responsibility, are able to handle the development of those church funded programs and would even welcome the off-loading of those responsibilities from the schools. It would build the influence of their churches and the schools could once again acknowledge God when free from federal funding. There are better and cheaper ways to accommodate special needs via the families, churches and private tutors.

5. How about state funding? I think it would be wise to keep the state funding formulas as stable as possible while working on the removal of the federal control problem. If school boards wanted to go further and remove some or all of the state controls while simultaneously taking less state tax payer money, the legislature has the power under the limitations of the ND Constitution to adjust the laws to encourage that direction.

6. What would a school run entirely under local control look like compared with the way a public school that receives federal dollar looks?

A school run entirely under local control would look a little like a big private school with:
1. Its mission statement pointing to the authority and minimum constraints of the ND Constitution.
2. There would be more parent involvement, because they would be needed and encouraged to even teach a class or two in their areas of expertise. Senior citizens could be actively involved in many ways. The teachers in the classroom would not be required to be certified and therefore much more flexibility would be available to accomplish the stated goals of the ND Constitution.
3. The school would not be under sectarian control, but neither would it be silencing a teacher from sharing their own faith in any manner they choose. The school board could fire them if there was unacceptable behavior or ideas.
4. The time to accomplish the learning objectives would not need to be measured in seat time. Faster learners could get the work done quicker and be done with school, saving the schools even more financially.
5. Churches would be much more involved in the local schools, providing help to the needy and some specialty courses to the students.
6. There would be only the constitution of ND to accommodate, which would unleash the imaginations of the teachers and administrators to get the job done with local resources. We would see the appearance of some fantastic creativity.

7. You say that home schoolers spend on average $500 per child. In that figure, are you taking into account the parent's lost income from a job and what his or her salary would be as the child's home educator, the money spent to maintain the school room where the child is educated, the time and dollars spent by the school district to oversee parents who must be monitored, etc.?

The $500 / year is the average cost of the resources needed for one child. Many families spend much less for very good academic results. The cultural shift toward corporate life at the sacrifice of home and family and church is the issue here, more than the “lost” income. How much is family quality and quantity time, unity and stability worth? Let’s say its equivalent to the income of one parent. Limiting the discussion to the cash basis tends to shadow the more important issues.

Besides, the second income of a family is often mostly spent on expenses incurred by that second employment, so even the second job is not as valuable in economic terms as it first appears.

With regard to the expense of operating public school facilities, those costs are currently borne by all the taxpayers. Churches and private schools are able to bear the costs of facilities by the users and donors. There is no practical reason why locally controlled school buildings couldn’t be paid for by those that use them, like the rest of the free market.

Monitoring of home educators is well known as a total waste of taxpayer money. This is where a full grown adult certified teacher sits and watches Mom teach her son or daughter to read and write. The monitor writes a very brief report twice a year which states that the child is making progress. The monitors are bored, and parents are wondering who started this strange idea.

By the way, the schools receive one half of a foundation aid payment for each child monitored. That would be about $4000 per year for one hour a week of doing little or nothing. Besides, most parents don’t want to be monitored. Monitoring may be eliminated in the 2009 legislative session via a bill being prepared by the North Dakota Home School Association.

8. At least part of a school district's cost of educating a child is bricks and mortar, plus the salary paid to a full-time teacher for 16 or 20 kids, so I would guess the cost of educating a child in the public schools would always be higher than $500 per child. How much higher do you think it would be, taking into account those expenses?

For simplicity, let’s think of a one room school house model for each classroom. One teacher, one building, twenty students. Annual expenses after the building is paid for might be $2400. $500 x 20 for learning resources = $10,000, teacher salary = $30,000. Total = $42,400 Divided by the 20 students = $2120 per student. This is about 1/4 of present costs.

It could be argued that the learning resources could be lower. The teacher salary could be lower because less time would be needed and some volunteers could share the teaching time in their area of expertise. Building expenses could be less than for a full year, and with some local creativity, expenses could be even lower, such as having students cut wood for gym class!

9. What kind of reaction are you getting from voters?

Local control seems to be a favorable concept among the general public, teachers, and school administrators who have discussed this issue with me. Change seems hard for some to imagine. Others are worried about losing their jobs. Folks looking at their property tax bills have expressed the need for something to change to lower the tax burden of the schools. Pastors and legislators are very aware of the tragic suicide rate and immorality in the ND schools, and would like change to help those areas.

10. Would this require property higher taxes since less federal aid would be used?

No, the federal aid is requiring expensive undesirable federal mandates. Federal mandates have caused the high state property taxes because they require more than they pay for. The school portion of local property taxes for most people is at about 60% of the property tax bill. Disconnecting from federal funds, means those federal mandates will no longer require the state tax funds to support the portions which the federal funds don't cover. Therefore, this plan would decrease taxes significantly. Perhaps even 75% based on the decrease in per student cost calculated above. Don't forget, the federal funds are also your taxes!

11. Even with locally controlled schools, wouldn't a teacher sharing his faith violate the separation of church and state?

No. That teacher would be properly exercising his First Amendment right. The First Amendment states that:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ..."

This Amendment ensures that there will be no national church for the United States and keeps the federal government from impeding or interfering with the free practice of religion. In other words, there will be no "Church of the United States" like the "Church of England."

It was never intended for Christianity to be separated from public schools or governing bodies. The Marxist social liberals use the legal threat of "separation of church and state" as a clever tool to eliminate Christianity from the public square. In fact, an ACLU lawyer invented the term in 1947 (Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Township). Don't take the federal funding and the threat has no teeth.

Religious freedom is foundational to a free and prosperous nation and state. The First Amendment protects people of every faith from the federal government.

11. Can a common person really identify clearly which philosophies are impacting the schools of North Dakota?

Yes. For an introduction to these ideas please read this free online worldview chart with links, which compares and contrasts the philosophies that are influencing our schools. Once you understand these basics, then take one issue important to you and identify the philosophy that it best represents. Call or email Dr. Bartlett if you have trouble doing this or for additional references to help.