In the days of Ronald Reagan, the Department of Education was thought to be a waste by many of the nation’s conservatives. It was thought that the department had no real reason for existence, since local control suits everyone best. You choose what your school does, not the federal government.

Well, all that has changed now. Some conservatives are almost as bad as liberals when it comes to education spending. In fact, education was the center of President George W. Bush’s campaign.

In reality, allowing the federal government to become involved with education has caused some serious problems.

Of course, you always have your debate over school prayer and posting the Ten Commandments, but there seems to be a new problem with the intrusion of the feds on our local school systems.

Kristja Falvo is the mother of a sixth grade boy who has a reading disorder. She sued her son’s school in Owasso, Okla. in 1998, claiming a teacher had students “swap papers” and read the grades out loud. Falvo’s son had a lower grade than most of his classmates. Of course, he was teased.

Falvo believes that she and her son had their right to privacy violated.

Her lawyer Wilfred Wright, was quoted in an Associated Press article saying that by fighting the case, the school district wants “unfettered and unshackled rights to disclose exam results to whomever they choose.”

And it gets worse. The Supreme Court has decided to hear the case and Falvo actually won in a lower court ruling.

In her win, the argument was focused on a 1974 law that keeps education records private.

And this is exactly why the old-school conservatives and libertarians don’t want federal involvement when it comes to education.

But thanks to big-brother government, what should seem like a laughable argument might actually prove to be victorious in the courts.

And what will happen if Falvo has her way in the Supreme Court?

The Bush administration is siding with the school district, fearing that awards such as “student of the week” and others could be forced to come to an end.

What the administration should fear is the further deterioration of our education system.

A teacher’s reasoning for having students grade tests or quizzes is pretty obvious. In the extremely competitive “real world,” no matter what kind of work you do, people will see how you did. By showing work, or grades, in class, it prepares those kids for graduation.

Now, in what way will it benefit children to keep their work secret from the rest of the students? If there is one, maybe we shouldn’t have kids read in front of the class. That violates their privacy just as much as telling a teacher someone else’s grade. Maybe we should get rid of “student of the week”; we wouldn’t want kids to think someone did better than them.

A lot could be changed in our nation’s schools if the high court rules in favor of Falvo. It would pretty much wipe competition out of education.

This is a great example of the types of things that happen when the federal government gets its hands on things. There would be no issue to deal with if we left it up to the people in that specific community. It could become an issue at the next school board election, and those in the community would decide if it is OK to read grades out loud.

But, that is not the case. Now, because of one woman in Oklahoma, every teacher in the country might have to stop their way of teaching.

Maybe this will make some conservatives rethink their position on the federal government’s role in public education.

Zach Calef is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Cedar Rapids. He is an assistant news editor of the Daily.