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Ron Paul on Education
Paul adopted the Republican Liberty Caucus Position Statement: BE IT RESOLVED that the Republican Liberty Caucus endorses the following [among its] principles: The US Department of Education should be abolished, leaving education decision making at the state, local or personal level. Parents have the right to spend their money on the school or method of schooling they deem appropriate for their children.
Republican Liberty Caucus Position Statement 00-RLC2 on Dec 8, 2000
Voted NO on No Child Left Behind
A better title for this bill is ``No Bureaucrat Left Behind'' because, even though it's proponents claim H.R. 1 restores power over education to states and local communities, this bill represents a massive increase in federal control over education. H.R. 1 contains the word ``ensure'' 150 times, ``require'' 477 times, ``shall'' 1,537 and ``shall not'' 123 times. These words are usually used to signify federal orders to states and localities. Only in a town where a decrease in the rate of spending increases is considered a cut could a bill laden with federal mandates be considered an increase in local control!
Voted YES on ending preferential treatment by race in college admissions. Voted YES on HR 6, the Higher Education Amendments Act of 1997, which would prohibit any post-secondary institution that participates in any program under the Higher Education Act from discriminating or granting any preferential treatment in admission based on race, sex, ethnicity, color or national origin.
Amendment introduced by Riggs, R-CA.; Bill HR 6 ; vote number 1998-133 on May 6, 1998
While I join the sponsors of H.Res. 676 in promoting racial harmony and individual liberty, the fact is the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not accomplish these goals. Instead, this law unconstitutionally expanded federal power, thus reducing liberty. Furthermore, by prompting raced-based quotas, this law undermined efforts to achieve a color-blind society and increased racial strife. Therefore, I must oppose H.Res. 676.
Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty and the end of welfare and affirmative action.
Paul adopted the Republican Liberty Caucus Position Statement: BE IT RESOLVED that the Republican Liberty Caucus endorses the following [among its] principles: The US Department of Education should be abolished, leaving education decision making at the state, local or personal level. Parents have the right to spend their money on the school or method of schooling they deem appropriate for their children.
Republican Liberty Caucus Position Statement 00-RLC2 on Dec 8, 2000
However, the likely effect of a voucher program is to increase spending on new programs for private schools while continuing to increase spending on programs for public schools. For example, Mr. Speaker, during the debate on the DC voucher program, voucher proponents vehemently denied that any public schools would lose any Federal funding. Some even promised to support increased Federal spending on DC's public and charter schools. Instead of reducing funding for failed programs, Congress simply added another 10 million dollars (from taxes or debt) to the bill to pay for the vouchers without making any offsetting cuts. In a true free market, failing competitors are not guaranteed a continued revenue stream. [Supports school choice and reducing funding to failing school programs]
Paul has introduced the "Family Education Freedom Act" (H.R. 935), a bill which provides parents with a $3,000 per child tax credit for K-12 educational expenses. All parents with school age children qualify for the credit, regardless of whether their children attend public, private, parochial, or home-based schools. Parents may use their credit dollars for many purposes, including tuition payments for private schools, educational tools such as computers and musical instruments for public schools, or to establish scholarship funds. H.R. 935 would return millions of dollars directly to parents, putting them in charge of their children's education. [Supports school choice in the form of giving parents tax credit in order to allow them to choose what school their child attends.]
Voted NO on HR 2616: To amend title VI and X of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve and expand charter schools. Voted NO on bill which provided $100 million to fund charter schools for fiscal year 1999.
Voted YES on vouchers for private & parochial schools. Voted YES to pass a bill to allow states to use certain federal funds designated for elementary and secondary education to provide scholarships, or vouchers, to low-income families to send their children to private schools, including religious schools.
Bill sponsored by Riggs, R-CA; Bill HR 2746 ; vote number 1997-569 on Nov 4, 1997
Many of those who share my belief that the most effective education reform is to put parents back in charge of the education system have embraced government-funded voucher programs as a means to that end. I certainly sympathize with the goals of voucher proponents and I believe that States and local governments have the right, protected by the Tenth Amendment, to adopt any sort of voucher program they believe meets the needs of their communities. However, I have a number of concerns regarding proposals to implement a voucher plan on the Federal level.
Decisions about whether or not to fund vouchers, have merit pay for teachers or extend the school year should be made by parents and local school boards, not by D.C.-based bureaucrats.
Voted NO on requiring states to test students. Voted NO on No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: Vote to pass a bill that would authorize $22.8 billion in education funding, a 29 percent increase from fiscal 2001. The bill would require states to test students to track progress.
Bill sponsored by Boehner R-OH; Bill HR 1 ; vote number 2001-145 on May 23, 2001
Voted NO on H.AMDT.20 to HR 800: Amendment which sought to require States to develop a system to measure student performance from year to year. Declares that education flexibility waivers shall be granted only after schools have adopted numerical standards for measuring student achievement
Paul adopted the Republican Liberty Caucus Position Statement: BE IT RESOLVED that the Republican Liberty Caucus endorses the following [among its] principles: The US Department of Education should be abolished, leaving education decision making at the state, local or personal level. Parents have the right to spend their money on the school or method of schooling they deem appropriate for their children.
Republican Liberty Caucus Position Statement 00-RLC2 on Dec 8, 2000
Decisions about whether or not to fund vouchers, have merit pay for teachers or extend the school year should be made by parents and local school boards, not by D.C.-based bureaucrats.
Ron Paul introduced the Teacher Tax Cut Act (HR 937), which would increase the take-home pay of all schoolteachers in America. He stated that the most serious problem facing American education is the potential shortfall of qualified teachers. The act provides every teacher in America with a $1,000 tax credit. Therefore, it increases teachers' salaries without raising federal expenditures.
Decisions about whether or not to fund vouchers, have merit pay for teachers or extend the school year should be made by parents and local school boards, not by D.C.-based bureaucrats.
Paul adopted the Republican Liberty Caucus Position Statement: BE IT RESOLVED that the Republican Liberty Caucus endorses the following [among its] principles: The US Department of Education should be abolished, leaving education decision making at the state, local or personal level. Parents have the right to spend their money on the school or method of schooling they deem appropriate for their children.
Republican Liberty Caucus Position Statement 00-RLC2 on Dec 8, 2000
Ron Paul introduced the Teacher Tax Cut Act (HR 937), which would increase the take-home pay of all schoolteachers in America. He stated that the most serious problem facing American education is the potential shortfall of qualified teachers. The act provides every teacher in America with a $1,000 tax credit. Therefore, it increases teachers' salaries without raising federal expenditures. [Paul would support providing teachers with tax credits as a means of increasing their pay.]
Decisions about whether or not to fund vouchers, have merit pay for teachers or extend the school year should be made by parents and local school boards, not by D.C.-based bureaucrats. [He supports State and local control over school decisions.]
Voted NO on Children's Prayers Resolution: Expressing the sense of Congress that schools should allow children time to pray for, or silently reflect upon, the country during the war against terrorism.
Bill sponsored by Isakson, R-GA; Bill H.Con.Res.239 ; vote number 2001-445 on Nov 15, 2001
Paul voted against mandating prayer in public schools, but also against preventing it--essentially he just wants the federal government out of the issue
Paul sponsored a resolution for a School Prayer Amendment: H.J.RES.52 (2001), H.J.RES.66 (1999), S.J.RES. 1, H.J.RES.12, H. J. RES. 108, & H. J. RES. 55: Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to prohibit individual or group prayer in public schools or other public institutions. No person shall be required by the United States or by any State to participate in prayer . Neither the United States nor any State shall compose the words of any prayer to be said in public schools. H. J. RES. 78 (1997): To secure the people's right to acknowledge God according to the dictates of conscience: Neither the United States nor any State shall establish any official religion, but the people's right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, or traditions on public property, including schools, shall not be infringed. Neither the United States nor any State shall require any person to join in prayer or other religious activity, prescribe school prayers, discriminate against religion, or deny equal access to a benefit on account of religion.
H.J.Res.78 97-HJR78 on May 8, 1997
I highly recommend to my colleagues the attached article ``Turning Eighteen in America: Thoughts on Conscription'' by Michael Allen. This article was published in the Internet news magazine Laissez Faire Times. Mr. Allen forcefully makes the point that coercing all young men to register with the federal government so they may be conscripted into military service at the will of politicians is fundamentally inconsistent with the American philosophy of limited government and personal freedom.