In his presidential candidacy, Ronald Reagan promised to abolish the US Department of Education, scale back the federal government's involvement in education, and severely restrict the use of native languages in classrooms. These and other things were done when he was president.
President Reagan worked to reduce local school district authority over education and increase state control. (Schaller, 2010). He came up with a policy of redirecting all the federal funds that went to the local districts to the state and the use of the federal finances to improve staffing at the level of the state. The policies intended to diminish the local school district’s power on education, and this came with much success.
He reduced the government budget on federal education by half by the time he was leaving the office. He emphasized on the teaching of values in schools thus championed an amendment that would permit prayer in public schools (Schaller, 2010). He tried to improve private education by proposing that parents who took their children to private schools to get credits on federal tuition tax.
He managed to give corporate managers more control over public education’s future. He felt such changes were necessary for making America have an advantage in global competition. It was not to be as it massively undermined the schools’ boards and the parents. The system prompted schools to produce good employees rather than producing a people of values (Clabaugh, 2017). The Secretary of Education, Mr. Bennett, in his tour of the country attacked public education on aspects such as teachers unions, corruption by the school administrators and certification of teachers (Clabaugh, 2017). The president’s moves received a lot of criticisms countrywide as it put education at stake. It would demean the competitiveness of the country worldwide.
The current bill on amending federal education
The current calls for the abolishment of federal education should be reconsidered because if it is not true that it is expected to improve the nation’s global competition. Thomas Massie introduced a bill to abolish the federal department of education by 31 August 2018.
The Congress should consider looking into the critic the bill will receive and the possible slowdown in the economy due to mistrust to the education system. It will mean reduced competitiveness in the global economy for the USA.
Conclusion
Public education in the United States received a blow during the tenure of President Ronald Reagan. With a new bill drafted to abolish the federal department of education, it may again derail the education system. The lawmakers should take a lesson from the critics the government of Ronald received. The amendment may not do well for the economy.
References
Schaller, M. (2010). The Ongoing Mystery of Ronald Reagan. Diplomatic History, 34 (2). 455-
458.
Clabaugh, K, G. (2017). THE CUTTING EDGE. The Educational Legacy of Ronald Reagan.
256-259.
