The Department of Education is failing America's 49 million public school children. By its own standards, it has a dismal record of elevating student achievement. Test scores for students have cratered to their lowest level in decades, despite billions of dollars in federal spending.
The latest figures show that federal, state and local spending on K-12 education reached $878.2 billion. That represents 6.1% of the nation's Gross Domestic product (GDP). Except for tiny Luxembourg, the United States spends the highest percentage of GDP on elementary and secondary education.
The Department of Education contributed $79 billion for K-12 education in the states in the 2024-2025 government budget cycle. That represents 13.6% of the total funding. Many Americans might be surprised at the low percentage, given the agency's powerful influence over our children's education.
Congress allocated the agency a total budget of $238 billion in the latest rounding of funding. Lawmakers allotted an additional $190 billion to schools for tutoring and other interventions aimed at recouping the learning loss after in-person learning was suspended during COVID.
Test scores from the most recent "Nation's Report Card" offer no evidence billions of dollars improved learning. Reading scores on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress fell two points on average for fourth and eighth graders, marking a steady decline that predates the pandemic.
In math, eighth grade scores were unchanged from 2022, the last time the test was given. Fourth graders scores ticked up two points, but remained below their performance in 2019. The gap between lowest and highest performing students widened in the test scores.
The scores don't tell the whole story. More eight graders than ever before are testing below the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) group's lowest benchmark for reading. One-third of eighth graders are below the "lowest" standard while 40% of fourth graders fall below the minimum.
Internationally, 15-year old U.S. high school students rank 26th in math; 20th in reading; and 23rd in science. The rankings were compiled by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2023, the latest year for which the data is available.
The distressing test scores are partially a reflection of the ineffectiveness of the gusher of billions in COVID school funds. Education watchdogs found numerous cases of waste and abuse, according to testimony before a house subcommittee in 2024.
Among the abuses: Funds were used to install Astroturf on a football field; purchase an ice cream truck; expand a nature center that belonged to a city; host a annual teachers conference in Las Vegas; and millions on internet service that was never launched. The department's oversight was MIA.
These failures underscore the unassailable fact: The Department of Education is a misnomer. It educates no children. It is a bureaucracy that serves as a middleman, dispatching our taxpayer dollars to states without adding value, while piling on burdensome complexity and onerous overregulation.
HISTORY
The Department of Education traces its lineage to President Andrew Johnson who created the agency in 1867. Two years later it was moved to the Department of the Interior. During the next 100 years, it was shuttled between agencies before landing in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
The modern day department was birthed for a political calculation. President Jimmy Carter promised a cabinet level education department in his 1976 presidential campaign to win the support of the teacher's union (National Education Association). The union contributed to his campaign and turned out voters.
In 1979, Congress passed legislation which Carter signed into law. Lawmakers allocated $14 billion for the department's first budget. Over the years the department's mission morphed. Today the department lists its goal as to "promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness."
Like many Washington agencies, the department has strayed far afield from its mission and increased its authority to micromanage education. Congress writes a check for the department to meet its obligations and then lathers on discretionary dollars that allow the agency a wide berth in spending.
Under President George Bush, lawmakers ushered in the "no Child Left Behind" mandate that subjected schools to sanctions if students did not make yearly progress. Every school that accepted any federal education tax dollars became accountable to Washington bureaucrats.
Test scores took precedent over everything. Many public schools cut nonessential classes such as art, music and even physical education. It was a disastrous experiment that lead to cheating by some schools to get a passing grade. That should have ended the notion Washington could manage education.
However, during the Obama Administration it created "The Race to the Top," with a $100 billion budget to improve learning results. The agency created an open competition for funding, with the money being parceled out to schools with the most elaborate and creative proposals. Test scores failed to improve.
Since 1979, the department has spent nearly $1 trillion in pursuit of its goal to boost learning with little to show for it. The department's real customers--students--are the forgotten pawns in this taxpayer funded shell game.
THE FUTURE
It is time to acknowledge K-12 education is best left to the states. Education was never envisioned by the Constitution's framers as a federal responsibility. States have their own Departments of Education, school districts, local school boards and funding.
Not surprisingly, the legacy media and Democrats are throwing up roadblocks, claiming the nation's education system will be irreparably harmed if the agency loses its unchecked authority to deliver money. The feds attach strings to leverage taxpayer dollars, often including social agenda mandates.
The predictable fear mongering is aimed at protecting the teachers union, which counts on the agency to do its bidding. As just one example, the union lobbied Congress for the COVID funding, then worked with big city school districts to reward its members with pay increases and signing bonuses.
As far as federal funding, the money should be transferred via block grants to the states. One example is money for special education, including counseling, therapy and transportation. Likewise, taxpayer dollars for research are fungible and can be sent to states, particularly for research on disability issues.
A New York Times article worried that employees responsible for the national report card on education would be lost in a downsizing. This is another red herring because many states already conduct their own surveys to assess student learning. If a national survey is needed, turn it over to the Census Bureau.
What the nation can do without is the department's penchant for using taxpayer dollars to push for transgender men in women's athletics and funding of diversity, equity and inclusion in colleges. Social issues only matter in the faculty lounges of elite universities, but contribute zero to learning.
The fact is states have the strongest incentive for improving education at the elementary, secondary and collegiate level.
The competition for new businesses is fierce between the states. States with the highest literacy rates and most proficient schools attract new industry and jobs. Businesses in turn provide additional funding for public schools. Failing schools will hamper states economic growth and prosperity.
Additionally, educated young people are also less likely to live in poverty; more likely to get a job; less likely to end up in the prison system; more likely to earn higher income; more likely to improve their health outcomes and more likely to be active in their community.
The viable long-term solution to revitalize education in America is to bring accountability for delivering academic results closer to the parents, teachers and local school boards. Each state has unique schooling challenges which do not fit the cookie-cutter approach of Washington.
Leave it to the states and local school boards to decide curriculum, performance standards, allocation of funds, teacher hiring and training standards, graduation requirements and long range planning. They know what's best for their children--not the 4,400 agency employees cloistered in Washington.
No comments:
Post a Comment