Nicholas Giordano is a professor of Political Science, the host of The P.A.S. Report Podcast, and a fellow at Campus Reform’s Higher Education Fellowship.
It should not be difficult to state the obvious, the Department of Education has had over 40 years to prove its worth – and it has failed.
We can no longer afford to support an education system that fails students year after year. It’s time for Congress to do its job and dismantle the Department of Education if we want to stop wasting tax dollars and pursue meaningful education reform.
Since 2000, the Department of Education’s annual discretionary budget has skyrocketed from $34.7 billion tax dollars to $82.4 billion. Yet, what have students and taxpayers gotten in return for this 137% increase?
Despite the massive increases in education spending, Americans are left with a negative return on investment. Student proficiency levels remain at historic lows as they cannot read or write at grade level, and half of college freshman have to take at least one remedial course for content they should have already mastered.
These failures extend beyond the classroom. They are reflected on the global stage and serve as a national embarrassment. American students to lag behind their global peers and two-thirds of American universities have seen their positions drop in global rankings.
But the problem transcends the Department of Education’s own statistics, and it’s a reality I witness firsthand every semester. Students aren’t just numbers on a report. They are the future of this country.
At the start of the current semester, just a handful of students were able to pass a basic citizenship exam. When I asked my class, ”What is the primary purpose of government?” Silence. Blank stares. These are college students, yet they struggle to form coherent arguments. It’s not just my class or my college, it’s a nationwide crisis.
Proponents of the Department of Education are quick to express outrage at any suggestion of eliminating it, but where is their outrage over a failed system where some schools are unable to produce a single student proficient in math and reading?
The elimination of the Department of Education isn’t a radical idea. It was only founded in its current form in 1979 during the Carter administration. A much more modest Office of Education had existed since 1868 after initial plans for a full-fledged department were scrapped over fears it would “exercise too much control over local schools.”
Instead, a post-Department of Education system should return power to the states, local school boards, and parents. Funding should be allocated through block grants and give states the flexibility to tailor education to their needs so long as they meet two key requirements: raise academic standards and ensure students gain a deep understanding of civics, history, and core subjects, without ideological indoctrination.
If schools are unable to improve student performance or push radical agendas, the tax dollars should follow the students, and parents should have the option to send their child to a better performing school. If schools have to compete for students, academic excellence becomes the priority, not bureaucrats or unions.
The very people responsible for our education system’s failure would rather cling to the status quo over parents, students, and teachers. We need an education system that prioritizes students over bureaucracy and demands results. Without federal overreach, we will have the freedom to innovate, prioritize student achievement, and remove ineffective mandates that have crippled learning for decades.
Editorials and op-eds reflect the opinion of the authors and not necessarily that of Campus Reform or the Leadership Institute.
This article was originally published at campusreform.org
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