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It would not solve the essential problem of government-run education, or eliminate its dangers.
February 25, 2025 - We have heard a great deal recently about President Trump's plans to abolish the Department of Education. Many people approve of this move, and I believe we must agree with it on Constitutional grounds. If government is to be involved in education at all, the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution declares that this is a power "reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
Some evangelical leaders have said that it would go a long way toward eliminating government interference with the rights of Christian parents to control the education of their children. But would it really solve the problem? The answer is a resounding No. It would not eliminate the imperative for Christian parents to educate their children through Christian schools, or Christian homeschooling, because it would not solve the essential problem of government-run education, or eliminate its dangers.
The U. S. Department of Education was established in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter. But most people don't realize that the effort to establish a federal Department of Education started long before that.
In the early 1920s - over one hundred years ago - bills came before Congress to establish a Department of Education. In February 1926, Bible-believing scholar and missionary leader Dr. J. Gresham Machen testified against the establishment of a federal Department of Education a before a joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives. He said that establishing such a government entity is
opposed to the whole principle of liberty for which our country stands. It is the notion that education is an affair essentially of the State; that the children of the State must be educated for the benefit of the State; that idiosyncrasies [i.e., differences in how children are educated] should be avoided, and the State should devise that method of education which will best promote the welfare of the State.
He went on to say this: "I think it is perfectly plain that we are embarking on a policy here which cannot be reversed when it is once embarked upon" - even if such a federal Department of Education were abolished at some future time.[1]
Most Christians today have no idea that Dr. Machen and other Christian leaders testified before Congress against a federal Department of Education as long ago as 1926. It is also noteworthy that in his testimony Dr. Machen cited cases in several of the states, including Oregon, Nebraska, Illinois, and New York, where state and local governments were taking away the rights of Christian parents to control the education of their children.
Many people think that abolishing the United States Department of Education would address the issues that Dr. Machen and others raised, but it would not solve the essential problem.
Here is the simple fact: Government-run schools do not operate primarily for the benefit of parents or even students. They operate primarily for the benefit of the government, and for the government's interests - which are often opposed to the interests of Christian parents.
In government-run schools, children are not taught to think critically in a proper way. Critical thinking is the ability to interpret, evaluate, and analyze facts and information to form a judgment, and especially to decide if something is right or wrong. In government-run schools, whether they are controlled at the federal, state, or local level, young people are taught to think without a foundation in Biblical truth. Children are taught to think in ways that are dictated by the godless state. The foundation of the ability to truly think critically - and to be able to judge right from wrong in every matter - is Biblical truth. That foundation is essential and indispensable for the proper education of Christian children. Nothing matters more.
Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me." And He went on to say this: "I will pray [to] the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth" - God the Holy Spirit - "whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you" - believers in Christ - "know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you" (John 14:6, 16-18).
In this series, I want to encourage parents who have been considering homeschooling your young people, but for various reasons you have not started doing it. I hear from parents who are in this situation often. Many of you are torn between your desire to have your children educated from the basis of Biblical truth, and the many objections that are raised against homeschooling. And so, in the webcasts that will follow, I want to deal with some of those issues and objections. They are real, but we can answer them. And our answers will have a foundation in the Bible's commands to parents for the proper upbringing of your children.
But before we begin addressing those issues, I want to describe to you in more detail the dangers that Christian parents face if you keep your children in the government-run schools - even if the Federal Department of Education is dismantled. You may be surprised to find out what some of those dangers are. If you are not on our subscriber list, I encourage you to subscribe so that you will automatically receive notifications of our upcoming webcasts on this vital subject.
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References:
1. J. Gresham Machen, Testimony before a joint session of the Senate Committee on Education and Labor, and the House Committee on Education, February 25, 1926, Congress of the United States, Washington D.C., Congressional Record, Volume 67, Part 10.
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