The purpose of government is to protect the rights of the people, but many government employees spend their time chasing government grants and working to maximize tax revenue. While these employees have the good intentions of providing beneficial services to taxpayers and are performing their job duties to the best of their abilities, chasing grants and maximizing tax revenue is not the purpose of government.
Over the years our government on all its levels has grown, morphed, and rebranded itself into a behemoth that no longer works to protect the rights of the people. Today, governments provide services, analyze data, and contain a multitude of departments that create administrative policies (not laws) which citizens are expected to follow. Government is continually growing by raising revenue through taxation. Lower levels of government compete to receive grants from higher government agencies for additional revenue. As the government continues to grow, more people will be employed by the government, reducing the tax base that supports big government and its services. This is not sustainable.
The Declaration of Independence clearly spells out the purpose of government in the second sentence. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
The Constitution further defines the role of government by explicitly listing its powers. Some of these powers include providing for the common defense, regulating commerce, coining money, establishing federal courts, declaring war, signing treaties, and making laws. The role of the government does not include funding the whims of citizens, redistribution of wealth, or stimulating the economy.
According to grants.gov, “A grant is a way the government funds your ideas and projects to provide public services and stimulate the economy. Grants support critical recovery initiatives, innovative research, and many other programs listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA). A grant is one of many different forms of federal financial assistance. Federal financial assistance is a broad term to refer to the various ways the U.S. government redistributes resources to eligible recipients.”
The very definition of a grant runs counter to the purpose of government according to our founding documents. So why are public school administrators and county employees spending so much time chasing grants? The short answer is that schools and county departments have received so much money from grants that they have become addicted to them. Grant money ALWAYS comes with strings attached. Grants are an evil drug that has been used by big government to control citizens through funding of local government and schools.
Grand Haven Area Public Schools (GHAPS) receives yearly budgets from both state and federal sources, as well as additional money from federal programs like Title 1 which are based on the number of students receiving free and reduced lunch. Like grant money, federal program money ALWAYS comes with strings attached. This money cannot be spent by school administrators in ways that they deem are most efficient, but must instead be spent according to the terms of the grant or federal program.
For example, Grand Haven students in after-school sport programs are transported to away games on school busses, but they must find their own ride home. At a recent school board meeting, board members briefly discussed which pot of money the bus funding comes from as this is a significant factor for determining whether or not this policy can be changed. I wouldn’t doubt there’s a grant that can help with that.
Administrators at Grand Haven Area Public Schools have applied for grants through the State of Michigan for:
50% reimbursement on hiring a school resource officer
$109/student to support mental health needs
$109/student to improve school safety
$2000/building to assess safety needs
tuition reimbursement for people interested in pursuing a degree in teaching
In addition, they have received Federal dollars through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the ESSER programs for virtual learning, hazard pay, PPE supplies, quarantine supervisors, and COVID communication. This is just the tip of the iceberg. All across the country money flows from state and federal governments to school districts and all of it has strings attached.
Here is the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards for the year ended June 30, 2022 for Grand Haven Area Public Schools. Just guess how much total money GHAPS received in grants and awards. (Answer shown after the schedule.)
In 2021-22 GHAPS received $12,227,848 in grants and awards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
School districts in Michigan even have a state mandated data mining program that helps them to identify and apply for grants. One purpose of the Michigan Integrated Continuous Improvement Process, MICIP, is to help school districts maximize grant revenue.
The purpose of government is not to chase grants, it is to protect the rights of the people.