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The establishment of an independent department of Education was of the biggest political battles of Jimmy Carter's presidency. Almost all religious organizations and conservative politicians opposed the plan, but it was strongly supported by the Lubavitcher Rebbe 1/9
The Rebbe argued that breathing new life into public education would go a long way towards healing many other social ills, and even a considerable spending increase would be offset by diminishing expenditures related to crime prevention, healthcare and welfare 2/9
He also emphasized that the quality of teaching by qualified, dedicated and motivated teachers requires the upgrading of teachers’ salaries on par with comparable professions in other fields of science and relieving them, as far as possible, of other frustrations and stresses 3/9
One of the main concerns cited by opponents of the plan was that increasing the Federal role in public education would inevitably be to the detriment of private education, and would ultimately lead to government interference in the arena of religious education 4/9
Conservative legislators in Congress packed the bill with amendments upholding conservative values and undermining the anti-segregation and affirmative-action policies. Their goal was to sabotage it by making it impossible for progressive members to vote in its support 5/9
In a series of impassioned public talks delivered on the 10th of Shvat 1979 (40 years ago this week) the Rebbe had some pretty harsh words for them:
(you can listen to the audio here chabad.org/therebbe/sicho…)
6/9
(you can listen to the audio here chabad.org/therebbe/sicho…)
6/9
"Those who immediately want to hinder ... cloak themselves in a gown of piety, and argue that if aid will be provided by the government this will hinder religious concerns, because they will interfere in educational affairs." 7/9
"This is an old argument advanced by elders who have no relationship to wisdom; not elders in the sense of “an elder who has acquired wisdom” (Talmud bavli, Kidushin, 32b), but rather the kind of elders who have the opposite of wisdom." 8/9
This is an example of what political scientist Jan Feldman has described as the Rebbe's "strong conviction that the Torah could not be at odds with the public good" and of the way that his ethos overcame special interest group politics when it comes to national concerns 9/9
Btw @bentzysu I have a strong suspecion that the first education day USA in honor of the Rebbe (1978) was directly related to this, maybe your zaide can confirm?
