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OCTOBER 2004

Education Through the Libertarian Lens
by Richard Campagna

I appreciate the opportunity to reflect and comment upon the status of education in America and particularly the effect of the federal government’s involvement in education. Certainly, with the current election pending, it is valuable for voters to understand how politics and governments have impacted their children’s educational choices.

In addition to currently teaching at three colleges, I was privileged to visit over 200 colleges and universities throughout America with my son, in order for us to evaluate their unique approaches and consequent quality of education.

It was and is interesting to explore what has worked, and what does not work when it comes to delivering a high degree of excellence in education. In my view, the same ‘existential’ and ‘libertarian’ principles result in successful outcomes across all levels of the educational process.

As an educator and as a libertarian, I have come to see the effect of the federal government’s involvement in education.  The current No Child Left Behind program is the latest example of an attempt to control the quality of education from the ‘top-down’, as opposed to a ‘bottom-up’ approach. Many writers have correctly opined that this legislation adds another layer of bureaucracy to the already overburdened local school administrators and students, while doing very little to elevate the quality of education in America, and in many ways detracting from its stated goals.

Many are aware that the United States once had the highest quality of education of anywhere in the world, before the federal government became involved. I believe the founders of this nation were very wise to specifically exclude education of the citizens from the enumerated powers granted to the federal government under our constitution. I believe they understand the intelligence of leaving the education of our children to the States or to ‘the people’, as the 10th amendment details.

In addition to taking up to 75% of the $60 billion dollars per year given to the U.S. Department of Education (to be kept within the bureaucracy) the federal government issues regulations and mandates that interfere with the administration of education at the local levels. The shortage of dollars for education that many complain of may best be addressed by allowing U.S. taxpayers to use their tax dollars directly to benefit education at the local level, rather than give it to an ineffective, inefficient and interfering federal bureaucracy.

The founders understood that every human was unique, and “endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights,” with their own right “to pursue happiness” as they individually desire. Anyone who has attempted to teach children knows the unique nature of every child, who each has distinct personalities, talents and creativity that is specific to them. From this perspective, it is easy to see that a top-down, uniform approach to education will almost always stifle creativity and interfere with the development of the individual. The resultant lack of individual development has led to deep dissatisfaction among our young people, which in turn leads to drug abuse, crime, depression, and societal breakdown.

Libertarian principles would include respecting and fostering the uniqueness and individuality of students and teachers, rather than governmental attempts to bring about uniformity (that are requested generally to serve the government’s administrative purposes). These principles also support the maximum degree of local freedom to choose forms of curriculum, courses of study, and individualized programs.

Direct parental, extended family, and neighborhood involvement in the education of every child is axiomatic to a libertarian society, and would also respect the principle of responsibility that is the co-equal partner to desired liberty.

It is obvious that there is no shortage of human creativity, love and commitment to serve our students and to deliver to them the very finest education possible. Allowing local communities to choose from among the proven, high-level educational models that exist throughout the world, without governmental interference, will dramatically improve the quality of education.  The “information age” we have entered makes possible unprecedented access to knowledge from anywhere in the world, including the opportunity for educators to communicate with each other as to what works and does not work in their chosen fields.  Unbridled freedom to choose has never been more necessary and advantageous than in today’s modern information age.

By embracing libertarian principles we can remove the institutional and governmental layers, which interfere with our ability to deliver this desired excellence to our children. We can once again honor the original vision of our Nation as a diverse, independent and sovereign people and return to an education system that is without equal anywhere in the world.#

Richard Campagna is the Libertarian Party candidate for Vice-President of the U.S..

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