federal




state and local

ok your right so we should just shut down all schools.

"The object [of my education bill was] to bring into action that mass of talents which lies buried in poverty in every country for want of the means of development, and thus give activity to a mass of mind which in proportion to our population shall be the double or treble of what it is in most countries." --Thomas Jefferson to M. Correa de Serra, 1817. ME 15:156

"The general objects [of a bill to diffuse knowledge more generally through the mass of the people] are to provide an education adapted to the years, to the capacity, and the condition of every one, and directed to their freedom and happiness." --Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia Q.XIV, 1782. ME 2:204

"A bill for the more general diffusion of learning... proposed to divide every county into wards of five or six miles square;... to establish in each ward a free school for reading, writing and common arithmetic; to provide for the annual selection of the best subjects from these schools, who might receive at the public expense a higher degree of education at a district school; and from these district schools to select a certain number of the most promising subjects, to be completed at an University where all the useful sciences should be taught. Worth and genius would thus have been sought out from every condition of life, and completely prepared by education for defeating the competition of wealth and birth for public trusts." --Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 1813. ME 13:399

"This [bill] on education would [raise] the mass of the people to the high ground of moral respectability necessary to their own safety and to orderly government, and would [complete] the great object of qualifying them to secure the veritable aristoi for the trusts of government, to the exclusion of the pseudalists... I have great hope that some patriotic spirit will... call it up and make it the keystone of the arch of our government." --Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 1813. ME 13:400

"My partiality for that division [of every county into wards] is not founded in views of education solely, but infinitely more as the means of a better administration of our government, and the eternal preservation of its republican principles. The example of this most admirable of all human contrivances in government, is to be seen in our Eastern States; and its powerful effect in the order and economy of their internal affairs, and the momentum it gives them as a nation, is the single circumstance which distinguishes them so remarkably from every other national association." --Thomas Jefferson to Wilson C. Nicholas, 1816. ME 14:454

"The less wealthy people,... by the bill for a general education, would be qualified to understand their rights, to maintain them, and to exercise with intelligence their parts in self-government; and all this would be effected without the violation of a single natural right of any one individual citizen." --Thomas Jefferson: Autobiography, 1821. ME 1:73

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i do believe that jefferson was around a long time before you time periods above.

and there is a difference between FREE education and MANDITORY education.

there wasn't even a department of education till 1980. education used to be wrapped up in the department of health, education, and welfare.

i'm with whip, the gov. should be out of education. it should be state only. this is one of the issues that i can't agree with bush. i really think the fed. gov. should stay out of education.

Other than schools on military installations, name one teacher paid by the federal government.

Sorry, Daniel, but your entire premise is just plain wrong.

The job of the federal government is described pretty well in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution then goes on to detail the descriptions in the preamble.



Establish Justice: It is the federal government's role to oversea the system of courts in the US. This begins and the local level and ends at the Supreme Court. That means local and state courts adjudicate all cases, and the federal courts should only get involved in appeals, or in federal cases.

Insure Domestic Tranquility: This is done through our system of elections. Out Constitution was written in such a way that coup de tats and insurrections can't succeed in toppling our government. Every election year the people vote, those who lose their positions to elections have no way of refusing to vacate.

Common Defense: This is done with the military. Notice it doesn't say "individual defense" or "defense of each state". There is no Consitutional backing for the idea that any policeman, military member or other federal officer is responsible for defending you or me as individuals. The role of the federal government in defense is for the entire nation.

General Welfare: This is probably the most misused and abused part of the Consitution. Just like Defense isn't about individuals, there is nothing in the Constitution that says the government is responsible or the welfare of each citizen. The General Welfare is done by the departments in government. NASA, the FBI, The Department of Defense, The Department of Energy.. etc... These departments are established to fulfill needs of the nation.

Securing the Blessings of Liberty: This part tells those who work in the federal government what the basis of their job is, and should always be.


That is the job of the federal government. Until We the People are ready to put our leaders' feet to the fire to remember it, we will continue to live under the idea that their role is anything they want it to be... and/or each of us wish it was.

So they were all for education, yet not one of your examples shows where they considered the job of the federal government. They further emphasized that fact by not mentioning it once in the entire U.S. Constitution.

Again, outside of the military system, name one K-12 teacher who has ever been paid by the federal government.

i didn't finish high school


i do have now two geds and a high school diploma


and a cert. in accounting. not that i have been able to use it.

I commend you for going back and finishing when you could have decided it wasn't worth it.

OK i will rephrase this


the job of the federal government is


defense of the country.


the job of the federal government should also include eduction all the way up to graduate school.


meaning education should be free to the citizens of the united states. this would allow more people to get phds. that being said. the federal government should not pay room and board for these students.


we would recoup the expense of the cost of this education in the higher taxes earned off of their higher income through out their lives.


these are the two most important things in this country or this world in my opinion


however the only mandatory part of education should be reading riting and rithmetic

don't be like gene read all of it.

No, you could go, danielost. If I can have six kids and go back, I assure you you can go.

My point was, and is, that if the government pays for your schooling, ity removes the incentive. I agree that education is a better use of government money than welfare is, but I disagree that college should be free all the way through. Are you aware how easy it would be to remain a professional student the rest of your life? I know one individual who has been working five years on a two year degree and refuses to get a real job because he gets enough extra money for going to school to tide him over. Real life examples, danielost.

As for yourself, if you don't like the way your life is, change it. I assure you, there's more than ample opportunity for someone who is willing to work their butt off to make a change. I have spent the last year and a half working one full time job, one part time job, and carrying a full time school course load. I ran one political campaign during that time, I directed a play, and I worked with various civi groups in the community. Frankly, if I can do it, I'm sure you could manage to add 3-6 credits a semester to your load to continue working towards an education.

i have tried to go back to work.

and the same thing keeps stopping me

and would stop me the moment i did anything other than what i do do.

that is my dad. he wants me around 24/7 in case he wants to go buy another 5 cases of soda.