The Bottom Line Time to Pull the Plug on the Department of Education
Whether ecstatic or demoralized about the recent election, Americans should all welcome a fresh review of how the federal government carries out its work. For too long, the massive federal bureaucracy has been allowed to grow while becoming less and less efficient in how it spends tax dollars.
In fact, it would be an exercise in futility to name any government program in anyone’s lifetime that achieved its intended goals in the time frame predicted and within the budget allocated. This reinforces the principle that the government should be the last option to fix a problem, not the first.
Perhaps the most glaring example of government ineffectiveness is the Department of Education (ED). Established near the end of the Carter Administration in October 1979 when Congress passed the Department of Education Organizing Act (Public Law 96-88), the actual operation of the department began in May 1980.
Prior to that, items related to education had existed as a unit of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). With the creation of the new department, the federal government has played an increasing role in both K-12 and higher education.
For too long, the massive federal bureaucracy has been allowed to grow while becoming less and less efficient in how it spends tax dollars.
Donald Nielsen
The intent of the 1979 legislation was to give the federal government a more significant role in improving the educational level of America’s young people. However, in the 44 years of its existence, the department has proven to be an expensive failure.
Expensive is an understatement. Since 1980, ED has cost American taxpayers over $2.3 trillion. Take a minute to let that sink in.
But the costs don’t end there. When I served on the Seattle School Board, I learned that the federal government accounted for only 9% of the district’s funding but nearly half of the regulations. Consequently, I suggested to my colleagues that we forego accepting federal dollars since the regulations cost much more than the funding provided. Alas, my colleagues would not support that suggestion. However, I’m confident it was (and still is) an accurate assessment.
Where does the money go? Mainly to fund a 4,400-person bureaucracy that constantly promulgates new regulations, ranging from dictating lunch menus to DEI rules. Scores of regulations dictate the operation of K-12 schools and universities. Even private universities that accept government funding are forced to comply with the various regulations.
What has been the impact of these regulations? The Nation’s Report Card documents that there has been no meaningful improvement in the education of our children as a result of the ED efforts over the past 50 years. Test scores in our K-12 system have remained flat or have declined. It’s no wonder that this poor performance has resulted in a lack of support for public education and more parents pulling their children out of the public system.
At the higher education level, the stature and reputation of America’s universities have declined while adjusted for inflation college tuition has increased 180% since 1980.
One of the main culprits for this astronomical increase is the federal government loan program, funded by the ED. That program gave universities a carte blanche opportunity to increase tuition without worrying about losing students. Tuition increases became almost a rite of passage.
The end result is that the federal government’s involvement in higher education has made education more expensive and less effective.
Given all the above, it’s very hard to find any meaningful contribution to the education of our youth from the $2.3 trillion spent by the ED.
The good news is a review of federal government efficiency is right around the corner. There’s no more low-hanging fruit than the expensive failure named the Department of Education.