During consideration of an education-policy bill (H.R. 5), Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) offered an amendment to express the sense of Congress that the authority of the Department of Education “to operate or administer any office or program related to elementary or secondary education should be terminated on or before December 31, 2023.”
The House rejected Massie’s amendment on March 24, 2023 by a vote of 161 to 265 (Roll Call 156). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because education is not the role of government, let alone among the limited and specified powers enumerated for Congress in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. A child’s education is the responsibility of, as well as a fundamental right of choice retained by, his or her parents. Forcing American citizens to furnish taxpayer money for a compulsory, failing, and government-run K-12 school system violates their individual liberties.
