Last week, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas 25th) and his cronies in Congress attempted to usurp the sovereignty of the people of Texas by amending what was a bill to fund operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Haiti to include a provision forces Texas not to reduce spending on education or risk losing federal money coming back to the State.

Aside from being a clear violation of the general welfare clause of the Constitution as it requires special actions of one state but not other, this is a great example of the problems with the overreach caused by the growth of government at the federal and state level.

While State Senator Florence Shapiro is to be commended for her efforts to bring this situation to light, they will not solve the ultimate problem which in the federal intrusion into the local classrooms of Texas and every other state. This intrusion is thanks, in part, to President George W. Bush and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) as such Republicans cannot be held blameless.

I call on the United States Congress to repeal NCLB and I also call on the Texas Legislature to pass a voucher system to allow parents to have school choice at the local level where it belongs!

Why should our tax money flow to Washington DC only to have federal bureaucrats take a cut before sending it with strings attached to Austin where state bureaucrats take a cut before sending it with strings attached to school districts where local education bureaucrats take a cut before sending it with strings attached to our local schools?

Parents know what is best for their children, not school superintendents, not state education officials, not federal employees. It is time to wake up!