Opinion
Education Letter to the Editor

It’s Not Just a Bad Law, It’s Unconstitutional

March 15, 2005 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Nel Noddings claims that the No Child Left Behind Act is a “bad law” and that it will not be made better through full funding (“Rethinking a Bad Law,” Feb. 23, 2005). Cogent as her essay may be, Ms. Noddings has missed the main point: The law is not just bad, it is unconstitutional.

The issue of whether this federal law would be made better by more funding is irrelevant. There is no authority in the U.S. Constitution for the federal government to tax for education across the states (see Article 1, Section 8). So federal funding should not even be applied to this law, regardless of whether or not it makes the law better.

What will it take for educators to insist on constitutional integrity regarding education issues? The word “education” is not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. How can we hope to educate a citizenry with full knowledge of and adherence to our founding document if we do not insist on that for ourselves?

William F. “Wally” Cox Jr.

Professor of Education

Regent University

Virginia Beach, Va.

A version of this article appeared in the March 16, 2005 edition of Education Week as It’s Not Just a Bad Law, It’s Unconstitutional

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: March 13, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 21, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 7, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 31, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read