Elizabeth Ramsey

Mr. Burnham
U.S. Government
10 November 2014
F(ederalism)ISD
Obviously, most Americans understand the basic concept of federalism
and how it works in the country. But, how often do we really examine how much
federalism has changed since it was outlined in the Constitution?
The powers of the government should be rightfully divided between the
federal and state government. Simple right? Not exactly. The pushovers of the
federal government are intruding upon the powers of the state government and
trying to manage the states responsibilities. No wonder the United States is
struggling with such controversy and imbalance.
One of the biggest issues involving federalism is education. The
responsibility is technically a reserved power for the states because it is not an
expressed power of the federal government in the Constitution (Morgan). But no
surprise, the federal government cannot seem to help meddling in education.
Shouldnt they be worrying about their own responsibilities instead of the states
duties?
Creative federalism is present when the federal government handles the
needs of the states and provides services for them, such as the federal
government handling education in the states. This creative federalism type
mindset of the federal government is ridiculous; the federal government is in no

place to be able to understand the needs of the states regarding education. Only
the people that are the most closely involved with students, teachers, and school
faculty can understand their educational needs. If only the federal government
would remove itself completely from this area, then states would be able to
determine their own education spending policies and standards, really allowing
the education system of America to flourish (Washingtons Latest).
Chained down by the Common Core standards forced into action by the
federal government, the state of Oklahoma rightfully repealed these standards
and reverted back to their own standards. Oklahomas education standards are
still strong, but are simply specified for the state of Oklahoma (Berry). The state
lost its waiver from the No Child Left Behind act, making it the second state to
lose this waiver. Sure, maybe the federal governments Common Core standards
might be beneficial for students, but a one size fits all type of policy for every
state simply wont work. Its outrageous that Obama thinks he rightfully has any
say in how the states can or cannot spend their education money or the
standards under which they educate their citizens.
Who couldve guessed that there is an even worse side to the Oklahoma
education issue? The state of Indiana also repealed these Common Core
standards, claiming that its own standards are similar enough to Common Core
to meet the federal governments education aspirations. But major plot twist,
Indiana was granted a one-year extension of its waiver. Not only is Obama
intruding by forcing Common Core upon the states unconstitutionally, the federal
government is not even equally placing restrictions on all of the states. Clearly,

the federal government should not even be allowed to interfere at all in

education. But now, it is even picking and choosing what states it wants to
restrict. The states must maintain control of their educations systems before the
federal government starts packing childrens school lunchboxes for them.
The recent gainful employment rule that was just put into place by the
federal government is cracking down on numerous for-profit schools. Because
many students cannot seem to pay back their student loans, this rule restricts
access to student-aid dollars (Kamentez). These for-profit colleges depend on
student aid; over two million students are enrolled in these colleges and in
desperate need of this financial aid. Lets just throw several struggling students
just trying to earn an education under the bus, shall we? The federal government
has absolutely no right to interfere in education, much less how students pay off
this education. Steve Gunderson, the president and CEO of the Association of
Private Sector Colleges and Universities, said, "The gainful employment
regulation is nothing more than a bad-faith attempt to cut off access to education
for millions of students who have been historically underserved by higher
education. The federal government is crushing the constitutional idea of dual
federalism; the education systems of the states will soon be completely in the
hands of the federal government if nothing changes soon.
Is it even possible to stop this inflation of the federal government that
seems to control every aspect of issues that are not even their responsibilities?
The federal government has already grown its roots so deeply in the education
system that is seems almost impossible to uproot the federal governments

power and refer it solely back to the states. The faade that the federal
government is using by claiming that it wants every American to become
successfully educated is completely unconstitutional. Its simply an excuse to
poke their noses into the state governments responsibilities. Watch out
Americans; the federal government is the mean substitute teacher that youve
been dreading.

Works Cited
http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/senators-work-stop-federalinterference-and-restore-state-level-education
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/08/28/Obama-AdministrationPunishes-Oklahoma-For-Repealing-Common-Core-Standards
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/11/07/362069843/for-profit-colleges-sue-thefederal-government
http://lonang.com/commentaries/foundation/federal-jurisdiction-in-education/