Goals 2000

From their inception in the late 19th century, strong public schools were a cornerstone of our evolving democracy. They enabled the successful assimilation of several generations of immigrants, providing a portal to the American Dream for one and all.

Over the past 30 some years, the health of public education in America has been deteriorating. The viruses attacking the system include tenure policies that make it almost impossible to get rid of mediocre teachers; bureaucracies that are administratively top-heavy; school boards constituted of wannabe politicians who want to be reelected (and are therefore reluctant to rock the boat); an increasing emphasis on social-engineering experiments at the expense of academics, the introduction - and subsequent failure - of one educational "reform" after another, thus transforming public schools into laboratories and children into guinea pigs; the institutionalized pampering of undisciplined students; and a pseudo-educations rhetoric created from the whole cloth of "self-esteem."

Today, a godless education system that promotes homosexuality, condom distribution, abortion rights and evolution - while outlawing any mention of God - is taking charge of our children's "character development."

The educational philosophy of Goals 2000 is one of indoctrination, rather than education, and discourages the teaching of basic skills. Beverly LaHaye, president of Concerned women for America, says that Goals 2000 will allow for school sex clinics, including abortion related services, mental health counselors for even young children, on-site nurseries for children of teen parents and government-run, parent re-education programs, and multicultural programs.

Goals 2000 is a national strategy to "reinvent from scratch the American school" and will directly impact the family. Goals 2000 - a $420 million education reform proposal - passed the House in October 1993 and the Senate in February 1994. With the passage of "Goals 2000" the federal government will now take a more active role in public schools. "Goals 2000 will actually mean massive control over education that will supersede state and local education requirements," says Brannon Howse, president of the Traditional Family Institute and author of Cradle to College. The bill will establish a national panel (National Education Standards and Improvement Council) to oversee the adoption of academic standards by states and will provide money for states to create and carry out plans for students to meet those standards. NESIC will have a broad range of powers which may enable it to implement national testing, national curriculum, uniform material requirements for schools and uniform instruction. Although Education Secretary Richard Riley says the standards will be "voluntary," you can be sure that the federal government will yield a great deal of power over local public schools to adopt the "voluntary" standards, punishing those that don't by withholding federal funds. Federal money will be tied to compliance with federal regulation through what it calls "opportunity-to-learn standards."

Education spending and SAT test scores
School Year	Average per pupil expenditure in constant 1993 dollars	SAT verbal score	SAT math score	SAT composite score
1963-64	$2,031	478	502	980
1982-83	$4,077	426	467	893
1992-93	$5,296	423	476	899
Sources: General Accounting Office report and U.S. Statistical Abstract

Since 1965, per-capita expenditures by public schools have risen more than 200% (in 1993 dollars) while student achievement has declined.

American public school students score well behind those from other industrialized counties in science and math, yet think their knowledge in these areas is more than adequate.

The federalization of the nation's public schools is a giant step toward a managed economy - socialism.

Goals 2000: Educate America Act