On April 26, 1983, "A Nation at Risk," a 65-page report compiled over a two-year period by a blue ribbon commission, was delivered to President Ronald Reagan. In regards to the existing condition of the educational system, the document said, "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves."

Today, many people consider the document to be the major focal point of the educational reform movement that eventually led to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The report obviously had a profound effect upon President Reagan. His platform initially called for the abolishment of the U.S. Department of Education, decreased spending by the federal government for education, and weakened support of private schools through vouchers and tuition tax credits, none of which were achieved during his tenure in office.

In 2008, the Department of Education not only remains in existence, but has mushroomed into one of the most powerful branches of the federal government. According to a recent USA Today report, federal spending for education in 1980 was a mere $16 billion compared to nearly $72 billion in 2007. While some progress has been made on the state level in regards to tuition tax credits and vouchers, the federal system remains adamantly opposed to such matters.

Twenty-five years and billions of dollars later, instead of remaining the world leader in education, the United States now lags behind in most areas. The website of The Alliance for Excellent Education says, "Thirty years ago, the United States was the world leader in the quantity and quality of both high school and college graduates, but the U.S. has fallen to 18th of 23 industrialized countries." Also, a study in reading literacy presented in 2003 by PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) revealed that American 15-year-olds ranked 15th of 29 nations belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Mathematics literacy scores for the 2006 PISA assessment were even more dismal with Americans ranking 24th of 29 OECD countries.

It's often been said, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." In this case, the more things are changed or reformed, the more they seem to worsen! Considering these statistics and the current rate of moral decline in comparison to 25 years ago, one can only shudder at the thought of what the next two decades may bring upon our nation.

Our mission at Alpha Omega Publications is to "change education for the glory of God." We applaud your daily efforts to provide your students with a Christian education that goes beyond mere routine memory and expands students' intellects by infusing them with a thorough biblical worldview. Our pledge to you remains the same as it has since our founding in 1977: Our curriculum will never contradict what is written in Scripture and will always be authored from a biblical worldview.

In addition, in an effort to provide you with supplemental resources, we are consistently building partnerships with other like-minded ministries. This issue of the School Messenger presents information on two of our most recent partnerships: a worldview DVD program from Chuck Colson's BreakPoint, and a current events program titled "The Times and the Scriptures." We trust you will find these to be valuable tools.

Twenty-five years later, our nation is still at risk and faces an even more severe crisis in education. Never before has the need for true Christian schools been so evident. By "true," we mean an education that is solely founded upon biblical principles, has Christ at the center of every school subject and activity, and causes students to understand they are uniquely created for a distinct calling and purpose in life. Then, and only then, will true reform be realized in education.

Roy Faletti
Vice President of Educational Services