See, the central government, an entity in and of itself divorced from the States forming the Union both philosophically and geographically, wants complete control of all the people in this nation. They don’t really believe that locals can take care of themselves, nor do they want them to or will they allow them to.
If you don’t believe it, get your town or city to divorce themselves from any and all of so-called federal funding of any nature and then - well, you better duck because bullets will be flying.
Government, including Republicans, works using its structure to establish and keep control. Money supposedly ‘given’ is the control - that is, until the malevolency of government rears its head should anyone defy control. Then, it is force through police agencies and may even include use of the military to squelch those who resist.
The government then calls these dissenters “cults” and extreme “right wingist” or just simply terrorists and justifies the resultant blood-bath as ‘protecting the people’.
What you have just witnessed with the educational part of the budget arguments is a show and nothing more. All those involved wanted to keep the federal government in control as they all consider it “their money” - it isn’t just Clinton that does.
As long as the federal government controls the purse strings, it knows it has control over all aspects of state schools or any other action (remember the feds controlling highway speeds by the threat of cutting off federal funding from any state that allowed the legal limit of 70 instead the emergency speed of 55?). It can dictate as it will.
Anyway, Republicans put on a show of fighting for locals being capable of controlling the direction of local educational systems. And then folded. But, they can now say they 'fought' hard.
But, you know what - it is just one big lie lying on top of all the other lies told by the Republican-Democratic controlling factions in government. It doesn’t really matter to the wealthy in Congress (those who have been controlling many years) which party is in control. Their coffers are filling regardless of who publicly controls the House and Senate. And, believe me, control is theirs, not the people.
Jeez, stop and ask yourself - exactly what has the 104th, 105th, and 106th Congress done for the cause of liberty and constitutional defense? The answer is, of course - NOT ONE DAMN THING!
So why should the budget concerning education be any different?