Rare Jewel Insight: January 27, 2006
Table of Contents:
1. COMMENTARY
- “Utter Failures,” by RJM President Tim Ewing
2. WEBSTER’S 1828 DICTIONARY SAYS…!
- How the Founders defined “Education”
3. REMINDER: RARE JEWEL MAGAZINE PARTNERS WITH AMERICAN VISION
4. DON’T MISS THE WORLDVIEW SUPER CONFERENCE
1. COMMENTARY
- “Utter Failures,” by RJM President Tim Ewing
“Our nation’s leaders, who demand so much from our public schools, should show an unwavering commitment to make sure schools can meet those demands. Congress failed utterly in that commitment and failed America’s schoolchildren in the first year of this session.” [1]
This statement was made by the National School Boards Association (NSBA) president Joan Schmidt on December 22, 2005. According to their website, “The NSBA is a national federation of state school boards associations that represent more than 95,000 school board members who govern the nation's public schools. The organization's mission is to foster excellence and equity in public elementary and secondary education throughout the United States through local school board leadership.”
Mrs Schmidt’s comments were published in my local newspaper because it is big news for someone from our small rural community of fewer than 800 people to become president of a large national organization. Mrs Schmidt (elected the 58th president of NSBA on April 18, 2005) has been a member of our local (Fairfield, MT) Board of Education for more than 20 years.
Three weeks ago, Mrs Schmidt railed against President George W Bush after he released his 2007 budget request to Congress, calling it a “mockery” because the budget fails to fund No Child Left Behind up to Mrs Schmidt’s expectations: “[NCLB] would be funded at the same level for the third budget cycle. If the President’s proposal is adopted, the program will have been increased by about 8 percent over four budget cycles -- hardly a priority.” [2] [3]
With these two official statements and others, Mrs Schmidt frequently assails the President and Congress for not providing enough money for local schools to meet the burdens placed on them by our federal government. Unfortunately, Mrs Schmidt fails to realize that in this situation, the best course of action by local school boards and parents is to JUST SAY “NO!”.
There is no law that forces us to accept handouts from the federal government. When the feds try to bribe us into abiding by their education mandates, instead of extending our wrists to be shackled by their unconstitutional actions, we should JUST SAY “NO!”.
Instead, Mrs Schmidt and her cohorts at NSBA are insisting that the bribe payment be increased, hoping that more dollars will soothe the chafing and pain about their wrists.
Mrs Schmidt should remember the classic illustration that when you point your finger at someone else, there are three fingers pointing back at yourself. If anyone has “failed utterly” it is We the People -- we parents.
First, we’ve allowed the feds to get involved in and increase their control over education, an area where they have no constitutional authority.
Second, we parents have negligently delegated to others our own responsibility to educate our children (I’ll expand more on this second point in next week’s RJI).
The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified on December 15, 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
The US Constitution contains no language specifying education as a matter of federal responsibility, nor does the Constitution prohibit the States from being involved in education. Therefore, per the Tenth Amendment, education legislation and its oversight is strictly a matter “reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
James Madison, the Father of the Constitution and America’s fourth President, wrote prior to the ratification of the Constitution in Federalist No. 45, “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.”
Unfortunately, in recent decades, ignorant state and local officials and citizens have willingly allowed the feds to take more and more responsibility away from us in areas such as social welfare and education. Actually, the feds don’t take the responsibility, we give it -- by demanding more and more services from the federal government, thus expanding its powers beyond Constitutional boundaries. We sell our liberties to the feds in exchange for the hope and promise of easy money to satisfy our needs and wants.
Article I, section 8, clause I of the Constitution gives Congress the power to “provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States,” and a few other responsibilities such as the power to levy taxes, regulate interstate commerce, ratify treaties, and confirm executive appointments.
That’s it! The Tenth Amendment shut the door on any other legislative activity by Congress.
Many liberals and statists claim the phrase “general welfare” gives Congress the power to create laws and authorize money for virtually any benefit they can invent or imagine, including dictatorial powers over education. James Madison asserted, “With respect to the words general welfare, I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators.” [4]
Thomas Jefferson advised, “Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have… The course of history shows that as government grows, liberty decreases.”
But the lure of big government tempts our fallen, selfish natures. We believe government will fix our problems with somebody else’s money, thus we personally “gain” without having to sacrifice the personal “pain.”
Mrs Schmidt and the 95,000 board members she represents -- and the millions of parents they represent -- willingly submit to big-government mandates, such as No Child Left Behind, as long as “those demands” come with plenty of cash. The NSBA has become a champion for big government and lobbyist for more “free” money. Let’s be honest: we know that money is a limited resource and it is immoral to spend such large amounts now that we incur massive debts that will crush future generations.
If we care for our children more than ourselves then we parents must personally invest the time and energy to learn our US Constitution, its original intent, and the proper relationship between government and education.
And if we care for our children more than ourselves then we parents must personally invest our time and energy into understanding, and then implementing, our proper role in the education of our children.
Before we wag our fingers or shake our fists at unethical demands placed upon us by our federal government, remember that we can always tear up their checks and JUST SAY “NO!”.
The burden upon us is not to pry more money out of the federal budget (i.e., our children’s and grandchildren’s pocketbooks), but to roll up our sleeves and invest ourselves directly in the education of our children.
Let’s turn our “utter failure” into a great American victory.
[Part II of this article will continue next week’s edition of Rare Jewel Insight.]
[1] Statement released December 22, 2005. Entire Statement can be read at:
http://www.nsba.org/site/doc.asp?TrackID=&SID=1&DID=37523&CID=90&VID=2
Statement also published in Fairfield Sun Times; January 5, 2006; “Opinion Page: Guest Column”; p 4.
[2] Statement released February 7, 2006. Entire Statement can be read at: http://www.nsba.org/site/doc.asp?TRACKID=&VID=2&CID=90&DID=37794
[3] For the record, I too agree that President Bush’s budget is a “mockery.” However, where Mrs Schmidt mocks the budget because of its failure to adequately fund her pet projects, I am disgusted with the budget (and that of every federal government budget during my lifetime) because it is chock full (over 75 percent) of unconstitutional spending, thus creating a weak-kneed nanny-State-dependent citizenry.
[4] Madison, James. 1865. Letters and Other Writings of James Madison, Published by order of Congress. 4 volumes. Edited by Philip R Fendall. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
2. WEBSTER’S 1828 DICTIONARY SAYS…!
-- How the Founders defined “Education”
Federal involvement in education during America’s formative years was limited to the “Northwest Ordinance”-- a federal law outlining the requirements of statehood for prospective territories, signed by President George Washington on August 7, 1789. Article III addressed both religion and public education, stating, “Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged.” [1]
In the Northwest Ordinance, America’s founders fashioned into law this imperative: that to ensure an enduring foundation for our nation, every State in the Union must “forever encourage” religion, morality, and knowledge as areas of emphasis in education.
Dr Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, further explained the sentiments of the Founders: “In contemplating the political institutions of the United States, I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes and take so little pains to prevent them. We profess to be republicans, and yet we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government, that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by the means of the Bible. For this Divine book, above all others, favors that equality among mankind, that respect for just laws, and those sober and frugal virtues, which constitute the soul of republicanism.” [2]
America’s first dictionary similarly reflects this common understanding of “education” during the times of the Founding Fathers: [3]
1828 definition of EDUCATION:
“The bringing up, as of a child, instruction; formation of manners. Education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations. To give children a good education in manners, arts and science, is important; to give them a religious education is indispensable; and an immense responsibility rests on parents and guardians who neglect these duties.”
[1] Read the text of the entire Northwest Ordinance at: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/nworder.htm
[2] Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophical, 1798.
[3] In 1828, Noah Webster published America’s first English dictionary, titled, An American Dictionary of the English Language -- with pronouncing vocabularies of Scripture, classical and geographical names. This 26-year project, begun during Thomas Jefferson’s first term as President, contained 70,000 entries and 12,000 new definitions. For the first time in the history of the English language a standardized spelling for vocabulary words was provided.
3. RARE JEWEL MAGAZINE PARTNERS WITH
AMERICAN VISION
Last week we announced our partnership with American Vision (www.AmericanVision.org) and Biblical Worldview magazine.
Remember, beginning in March, Rare Jewel Magazine subscribers will automatically begin receiving the monthly Biblical Worldview magazine. Be sure to look for our new monthly column, “Rare Jewel Retort,” in BW magazine. Our March column will focus on Jimmy Carter’s new book, Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis.
Given that the Values Voters of 2004 were the determining electoral factor in America’s rejection of John Kerry, who was Jimmy Carter’s choice for President, do you wonder, as I do, how Jimmy could have anything legitimate to say about a moral crisis in America? In our March column, we’ll learn how a self-professed Christian can use the Bible to justify abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, same-sex marriage, and other immoral perils of our day.
We will continue to write and speak under our newly formed non-profit organization, Rare Jewel Ministries.
Don’t miss the next Rare Jewel speaking event, which occurs May 17 - 20 at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference in Estes Park, CO. RJM Managing Editor Rick Marschall and Founder Tim Ewing will co-teach a 6.5 hour Continuing Session entitled, “Write to Transform Our Culture.” Tim will also be giving the Keynote message, “Proclaiming the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” which is open free to the public. For more details, go to: http://www.writehisanswer.com/Colorado.
E-mail mailto:speakers@RareJewelMinistries.org for more information about hosting a Rare Jewel Ministries speaking engagement at your church, school, or related Christian function/organization.
4. DON’T MISS THE WORLDVIEW SUPER CONFERENCE
12 Speakers • 20 Sessions • 3 Debates
American Vision’s first Worldview Super Conference -- unquestionably the most comprehensive training conference available today. Our theme is “Creation to Revelation. . . Connecting the Dots.” Our speakers will start with Genesis and end in Revelation. They’ll tell you what the Bible says about where we came from, what our purpose is, where we are going, and how to get there.
Our specialist faculty will connect all of these important messages and demonstrate that the Bible is relevant and essential to all facets of our corporate and individual lives.
Plus, we are hosting three guest speakers to debate three of our own worldview faculty on the following topics/issues each night: Separation of Church & State, Creation & Evolution, and Bible Prophecy.
Make this Memorial Day weekend the most memorable and important ever for your family. Join us for a historic conference that will equip the Christian, strengthen the family, and rebuild our nation!
Held on the beautiful 900-acre campus of the Georgia BaptistConference Center in Toccoa, Georgia (Northeast of Atlanta)
May 24-27, 2006.
Click here for more information and to download the conference brochure (PDF):
http://www.americanvision.org/wsc.asp (or call 1-800-628-9460 ext. 209).
