Today is Constitution Day, marking the anniversary of the drafting of the United States Constitution, a document that has survived – sort of – since 1787. “Sort of,” because that oft-invoked document has been twisted, ripped, and shunted aside – and not through the totally Constitutional amendment process – so frequently it is hard to say that it is really still in force.

Education – my area – is a perfect example of this. The Constitution only gives the federal government specific, enumerated powers, and none are about education. Yet Washington annually spends tens-of-billions of dollars on K‑12 schooling, funding that brought us to the brink of a national curriculum; gives grants and loans to college students that fuels rampant tuition inflation, among other disasters; and reaches into the cribs of the youngest Americans. Indeed, any educational institution that receives unconstitutional federal funding has to teach about the Constitution today because the feds unconstitutionally require it in exchange for the unconstitutional bucks.

See what I mean about twisting?

To help you see the light about the feds and education, I offer some Cato Center for Educational Freedom resources tackling the federal government and education:

  • For a history and analysis of federal education policy up to the mid-2000s, you can read my book, Feds in the Classroom
  • If video is more your medium, CEF hosted three panel discussions last year to mark the 40th birthday of the unconstitutional U.S. Department of Education. We covered the fishy circumstances behind the department’s birth, its dubious impact, and thoughts on its not-so-bright future
  • For a succinct rebuttal to insistence that the feds are Constitutionally allowed to govern education (sorry, general welfare clause!) see this 2010 blog post
  • For a discussion of that unconstitutional Constitution Day mandate, see here

Happy Constitution Day everyone! Now let’s get that thing back…