The Clinton Administration's education proposals would increase Federal control over American schools through a wide range of programs. New pre-school programs would enroll children at age three in federally managed classrooms. These concerns are valid, since the most direct impact the government has on us is through our wallets. Five billion dollars in new federal spending is proposed to build 5,000 new schools and hire 100,000 additional teachers. No, the real purpose is not education, but federal control.
History shows that government dollars and government controls damage education.
In 1992-93, Iowa students had the highest SAT scores in the country, yet Iowa ranked 27th of the states in expenditure per pupil. New Jersey ranked highest in expenditure per pupil, but only 39th in SAT scores. A more specific example of counter-productive government spending is the Kansas City, Missouri, public schools. In 1987, in one of the worst cases of judicial tyranny in American history, a federal judge ordered a property tax increase in Kansas City to rebuild all of the city's schools. One and a third billion dollars were spent on the project.