National Parent Coalition Releases ‘Blueprint to Establish State Control of Education’
A nationwide organization of parents dedicated to ending federal control of public education released a “blueprint” Monday that seeks to serve as a resource outlining how to implement elimination of all federal education dollars and return control back to the states.
United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) says its “Blueprint to Establish State Control of Education” is a “groundbreaking resource” that details steps governors and state lawmakers can take “to develop and execute a concrete plan” and also provides “clear evidence as to how educational outcomes can improve.”
“The US Department of Education (USED) exists because they seek to control state education systems through bribery and blackmail using federal dollars,” said USPIE Founder and President Sheri Few in a press statement. “USED mandates Common Core, Marxist critical theories, the sexualization of children, and anti-American propaganda by threatening to withhold federal funding noncompliance. None of these serve the best interests of children.”
USPIE recently released a documentary titled Truth & Lies in American Education, which provides an account of what the organization describes as “the atrocities forced on government schools through federal regulations and funding.”
The film, which can be streamed here, attempts to empower parents “to fight for their God-given parental rights and impact change in America’s government schools,” the organization states.
“It is the mission of USPIE to restore parental and local control of education by eradicating all federal intrusion,” the national group states in its blueprint.
Though Americans of all political leanings often agree state and local control of public education is best because it eliminates the federal bureaucracy, many claim states would find a goal of ending all federal funding unattainable.
In March, lawmakers in Tennessee, urged on by House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R), proposed the establishment of a task force to study how the state can end federal education mandates by cutting itself off from federal funding.
“We as a state can lead the nation once again in telling the federal government that they can keep their money and we’ll just do things the Tennessee way,” Sexton said at an event a month earlier. “And that should start, first and foremost, with the Department of Education.”
USPIE agrees the key to eliminating federal mandates in government schools is to end federal funding. Acceptance of federal funds then generally goes hand in hand with education bureaucrats expecting compliance with their mandates under the guise of “accountability” for taking federal monies.
The parent coalition’s blueprint asserts states can end federal funding with these four steps below, and then details how each can be achieved:
1. Analyze education funds by source: federal, state, and local.
2. Conduct a Cost of Compliance Study for federal funds.
3. Identify state programs to replace USED programs. Engage parents and local communities in the transition.
4. Shift education revenue responsibilities entirely back to the state.
“The time is right,” said USPIE’s Few. “Serious conversations are taking place throughout the country about the legitimacy and effectiveness of the federal government in education. But someone needs a viable plan to dismantle the behemoth that is USED — so we put together this well-researched Blueprint to give states the tools necessary to make a much-needed change.”