When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Biden Administration did not have the authority to cancel $430 billion of student loan debt, the Department of Education (DOE), under the direction of Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, immediately issued directives to circumvent the court’s ruling. When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to end Affirmative Action, again, the DOE began circumventing the court’s decision, informing schools on how to work around the Supreme Court’s ruling to keep Affirmative Action in place.
With no fear of reprisal, the U.S. DOE freely exerts its authority over the highest court in our nation. More importantly, the DOE’s liberal agenda daily reaches the hearts and minds of 50 million students enrolled in America’s 100,000 public schools. How did this happen, and how do we stop it?
The Department of Education
The DOE emerged as a power broker in American education on May 4, 1980, when President Jimmy Carter opened the doors to his new DOE, complete with a federal cabinet seat, fulfilling the President’s promise to the NEA (NEA) that if elected he would create a federal DOE. The newly formed DOE immediately began working with the NEA.
Intercessors for America perceived the synergy created by the mutual like-minded liberal policies of both organizations would create an exponential change in American education. Intercessors for America stated in a letter to its intercessors, The larger and more serious objection is that a new DOE, for all practical purposes, would be little more than an extension of the NEA. Their perception of the possible evil the two organizations working in tandem could perpetuate, in retrospect, proved to be much worse than anyone imagined.
The National Education Association
The National Education Association (NEA) began in 1857 as a professional organization. In 1870, after merging with two other educational organizations, the NEA became politically ambitious, slowly working its way into a position to control education, eventually becoming a full-fledged labor union in 1967.
In 1906 the NEA applied for and was granted a federal charter by President Teddy Roosevelt. This charter, still in effect today, gives the organization a nonprofit status allowing for tax breaks while maintaining lobbying status, allowing them to input into pollical issues concerning education. Realizing the value of a federal DOE, the NEA began, as early as 1920, to push for a federal DOE and succeeded by getting the Smith-Towner Bill passed. The bill began the movement for public education, requiring all children to attend public schools while prohibiting private schools. The bill also led the way for the creation of a department in the government to be called the DOE, complete with a Secretary of Education. A move they hoped would ensure federal funding for public schools.
Today the NEA is the only labor union in the United States with a federal charter and the only labor union with a cabinet-level department – the DOE. Once again, Intercessors for America (IFA) perceived the danger of the conjoining of the DOE and the NEA, and on May 1, 1979, IFA wrote a letter to its intercessors urging them to first pray for God to intervene to prevent the formation of a DOE, and secondly to write objection letters to senators and representatives (IFA Newsletter May 1, 1979, Vol. 6, No. 5).
Fortunately for intercessors, the DOE and the NEA possess vulnerabilities that could be their undoing. The DOE is unconstitutional, and the NEA’s Federal Charter is revokable.
The Department of Education is Unconstitutional
The Tenth Amendment passed Congress in 1789 and ratified in 1791 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. Education, not mentioned in the Constitution, is viewed as a right left to the states. Our founding fathers felt the separation of rights helped to maintain a balance of power between the states and the federal government. Presently, every state constitution includes language that mandates establishing a public education system. Clearly, our founding fathers gave the states the legacy of setting up their own education system separate from the federal government’s interference, thereby allowing more local control to the states and the local governments.
If Congress acts, it is possible to dismantle the DOE. In 2020 Heritage Foundation published an excellent paper by Lindsey Burke and Jonathan Butcher, Correcting Carter’s Mistake: Removing Cabinet Status from the U.S. DOE. The authors make the argument the DOE after 40 years, there is scant evidence that the DOE has benefited American students or used taxpayer money effectively. Therefore, the DOE should be dismantled. President Reagan wanted to do this once he took office as President Carter’s predecessor. He looked for members of Congress who would support a bill to dismantle the department but was unable to find anyone willing to carry the bills forward to accomplish the task. As parents aware of the DOE’s promotion of a liberal, anti-parent, anti-American, and anti-Christian agenda, there is more willingness to consider dismantling the DOE, something President Trump promised he would do should he be elected President in 2024.
The NEA’s Federal Charter can be revoked
At the time the federal government granted the National Education a nonprofit status, they presented themselves as an association of teachers and administrators whose primary purpose is to provide an excellent education to children; and to serve the best interests of parents, teachers and administrators entrusted with the education and care of those children. Their noble purpose no longer defines the organization as the IRS designated the NEA a full-fledged labor union since 1967. Stripping the NEA of its federal charter would significantly break the power of the organization over our public schools.
In 2016 Charles W. Baird published an excellent paper in the Government Union Review detailing how to revoke the NEA’s federal charter. The idea gained traction in 2022 when the NEA created an enemies list of parents willing to stand up to their tactics in school board meetings. The move to ban parents from voicing their objections to the NEA’s liberal agenda proved too much for some Republican senators. Senators Lankford (R-OK) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced a bill in the Senate to revoke the NEA’s Federal Charter. Representatives Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) And Jim Banks (R-IN) introduced a similar bill in the House.
Intercessors for America has sounded an alarm for intercessors for over fifty years. Today they continue to alert intercessors on issues of importance to our nation. With the ungodly agenda of the NEA and the DOE revealed it can be stopped. With prayer, we can break the stronghold over our nation’s students and change the course of America.
Prayer: Father, Let us be wise as we go against the mighty. Give us strength and determination as we bring down the strongholds in which they trust. (Proverbs 21:12)
Originally posted on Intercessors for America.