America's schools are becoming mental prisons for children. Little children used to be afraid to go to school for the first time. Now it is parents who should be afraid to send their children to school.

The Clinton Administration's education proposals would increase Federal control over American schools through a wide range of programs. New pre-school programs would enroll children at age three in federally managed classrooms. New before-school and after-school programs would keep children under government supervision for most of each day. More funds for programs like "midnight basketball" would turn the federal government into a round-the-clock nanny of America's children. In case they have any free time left, Clinton's mandatory "volunteerism" goals would put children to work on government approved community projects--heretofore reserved as punishment for criminals in regular prisons.

The Administration is also pushing strongly for national testing based on national standards set by the federal government--meaning that the federal government will determine what is taught in every classroom in the nation.

A large part of the debate about schools centers on the huge amounts of money spent--and seemingly wasted--on education. These concerns are valid, since the most direct impact the government has on us is through our wallets. Five billion dollars in new federal spending is proposed to build 5,000 new schools and hire 100,000 additional teachers. Why? Will the additional money improve education? No, the real purpose is not education, but federal control.

History shows that government dollars and government controls damage education. From 1960 to 1990 total government spending on elementary and secondary education in America rapidly increased from $70 billion to $250 billion (in constant 1989 dollars), while SAT scores declined by 10 percent. Total government spending per student is the highest in the world, 25 per cent higher than in Germany or Japan. In 1992-93, Iowa students had the highest SAT scores in the country, yet Iowa ranked 27th of the states in expenditure per pupil. New Jersey ranked highest in expenditure per pupil, but only 39th in SAT scores.

A more specific example of counter-productive government spending is the Kansas City, Missouri, public schools. In 1987, in one of the worst cases of judicial tyranny in American history, a federal judge ordered a property tax increase in Kansas City to rebuild all of the city's schools. One and a third billion dollars were spent on the project. Ten years later, there was no improvement whatsoever in test results for these students. Now Bill Clinton wants to spend $20 billion on new school construction. Based on the record to date, this would be an unconscionable waste of money.

But far more frightening is what the federal government would be doing to our children in these buildings. This brings us to the real motives behind these expenditures. A government monopoly in education creates an enormous magnet for anyone with an agenda. National testing and national standards would draw all those who want one center of power that would give them the ability to indoctrinate American children. Those who want to make your child pray to their god, or sanction "optional" life-styles, or accept collectivist propaganda, will seek to have government power placed in their hands to gain access to your children. Government education ultimately becomes the agent of propaganda for those controlling the government.

The purpose of Clinton's government programs is to replace parental choice and individual freedom with government direction. The issue is not really about education at all. It is about power.

In a free society, with freedom of speech, it is not the business of government to transmit ideas and values from one generation to another. The problems with American education will only get worse until the government monopoly in education is destroyed. A free market for ideas is the only environment in which education can survive and prosper. A "voucher" system giving parents real educational alternatives for their children is the best interim step in establishing a free market for schools. Until such reforms are implemented on a nationwide basis, parents will justifiably fear sending their children back to school -- a fear increased by Clinton's dangerous education proposals that would further lock up their children's bodies and minds.

In his 1998 State of the Union address, President Clinton said, "character education must be taught in the schools." That, Mr. President, is not an appropriate role for you or the federal government.
 
Mr. Ralston is a former director of development at the Ayn Rand Institute. The Institute promotes the philosophy of Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.