Chapter
3 -- Role of the Federal Government
I.
Introduction
A.
Historically,
the federal government has exhibited an active interest in education.
B.
The
founding fathers believed that public virtue and the welfare of the state were
dependent on the ability of the people to properly exercise their democratic
prerogatives.
C.
It was
imminently reasonable to conclude that "mankind could be greatly improved
by education."
D.
In the
Constitutional Convention of 1787 the matter of education and a national
university was advanced by several delegates (to no avail).
E.
In the
concern that the sovereign states and not the federal government should be the
proper repository of such power.
II.
The Land
Ordinances
A.
The Land
Ordinances of 1785 and 1787 provided impetus for creation of educational systems
in all states joining the Union.
B.
The
Continental Congress in 1780 à
States ceded their claims to the federal government creating a national domain.
C.
The
provision for education in the ordinances caused the new states to address the
issue of education at the very beginning of their statehood.
D.
Survey
plan of 1785 laid out square townships, six miles by six miles (36 sections).
1/6 was dedicated for schools.
E.
Northwest
Ordinance stated: "religion,
morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of
mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged."
F.
Legislatures
of new states were required to oversee the sixteenth-section lands and required
each state to have an education provision in its basic law.
III.
Indirect
Federal Role
A.
The early
method of federal land grants for education was most notable for two particular
aspects:
1.
Grants
were made for the purpose of creating and aiding public schools directly.
2.
Federal
government exercised no control over education as a condition for receiving the
grants
B.
It was
established that the federal government was to play an indirect role in the
development of public education.
C.
The first
Morrill Act (1862) led to the great land-grant colleges being established and
supported.
D.
Congress
advanced a role of higher education expanding and giving credibility to the
study of agriculture and engineering.
E.
Smith-Lever
Act of 1914 prescribed the expenditure of grant funds for extension services by
county agents for agriculture and homemaking and for training of teachers in
these areas.
F.
Smith-Hughes
Act of 1917 provided for funds for vocational education below college level.
G.
Higher
Education Facilities Act (1963) created financial assistance for construction at
all levels of higher education.
H.
In each
of these acts, the role of the federal government is conveyed by Congress to be
one of supplementary assistance to the state system of education.
I.
Congress
has sought to shape educational policy through the indirect means of categorical
grants giving direction to certain educational programs à The states have the option of accepting or
rejecting the funds.
IV.
Reserved
State Powers
A.
Powers of
the federal government are limited by the Tenth Amendment à provides that "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."
B.
Education
is not mentioned in the Constitution and is reserved to the states.
C.
Chief
Justice Marshall noted that the word "expressly" was not included in
the Tenth amendment leaving the issue "whether the particular power which
may become the subject of contest has been delegated to the one government, or
prohibited to the other" to depend upon a fair construction of the whole
instrument.
D.
The
presumption, on behalf of the states, provides a constitutional basis through
which a state can seek legal redress in challenging a federal statute.
V.
Federal
Control of Education
A.
Federal
control over education is secondary to the power exercised by the states.
B.
A state
can do the following:
1.
Create,
organize, and reorganize school districts
2.
Employ
and dismiss personnel
3.
Prescribe
curriculum
4.
Establish
and enforce accreditation standards
5.
Govern
all management and operation functions of the public schools
C.
The
Federal government can intervene only in a peripheral way (three sources):
1.
Acquiescence
by states in accepting federal grants provided by the General Welfare Clause
2.
Standards
or regulations that the Congress has authorized within the Commerce Clause
3.
constrain
actins by courts enforcing federal constitutional provisions protecting
individual rights.
D.
Education
and General Welfare
1.
Two major
questions:
a.
Does
education come under the definition of general welfare?
b.
How can
Congress provide for education if it does come with the definition?
2.
Section 8
Article I: "The Congress shall
have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imports and Excises, to pay the
Debts and provide for the common Defense and General Welfare of the United
States…"
3.
With the
courts elastic definition of general welfare, Congress is free to define
education as general welfare and to tax and appropriate funds for educational
purposes.
E.
Education
and Commerce
1.
The
Congress has power under the Commerce Clause to "regulate Commerce with
foreign Nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes.
2.
Education
can be affected by congressional action dealing with things such as safety,
transportation, and labor regulations.
3.
The
definition of "commerce" as applied by the Supreme Court has a broad
meaning à a means for "advancement of society, labor,
transportation, intelligence, care, and various mediums of exchange…"
4.
Few
decisions have been rendered in favor of state prerogative.
F.
Constitutional
Rights and Freedoms of Individuals
1.
State
laws that violate or deny individual rights or freedoms may be invalidated by
the courts through application of the United States Constitution.
2.
Most
cases that have held state actions unconstitutional have been based on the First
or Fourteenth Amendments to the constitution.
3.
Judicial
action through injunctive relief on behalf of a student, teacher, or parent may
limit state options in education.
G.
Garcia v.
San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985) à The Scope of the Commerce Clause is Defined
by Political Process
1.
Federal
statute at issue must regulate "the states as states."
2.
The
statute must "address matters that are indisputably attribute(s) of state
sovereignty."
3.
State
compliance with the federal obligation must "directly impair the states
ability to structure integral operations in areas of traditional governmental
functions."
4. The relation of state and federal interests must not be such that "the nature of the federal interest…justifies state submission.
H.
Shepheard
v. Godwin à
State Statute Impeding Intent of Federal Statute Violates Supremacy Clause.
I.
Wheeler
v. Barrera à
State is not obligated to expend federal funds for purposes that violate the
state constitution.
J.
Bell v.
New Jersey and Pennsylvania à
Federal Government May Recover Misused Funds from States.