Department of Education

[Dave Sinkula]

United States Department of Education

CATO HANDBOOK FOR CONGRESS

[Infarction]

Like a lot of things in our government, it needs to be scrapped and rebuild. Properly.

[joshSCH]

Like a lot of things in our government, it needs to be scrapped and rebuild. Properly.

Yes, especially in the English department. ".. needs to be scrapped and rebuilt".

[Dave Sinkula]

Like a lot of things in our government, it needs to be scrapped.

Fixed.

[Infarction]

Yes, especially in the English department. ".. needs to be scrapped and rebuilt".

It's been a loooong week... my speech is about as bad as my spelling too, maybe even worse... :'(

[ft3ssgeek]

What we really need, in my opinion, is to hold teachers and parents more responsible for their students' education...you have too many teachers simply passing students because they don't want to put the students through the social stigma of having to repeat a class or grade level (My brother had to repeat the 7th grade and he was much better off for it)...Many parents these days are simply apathetic and expect the schools to do all the work...I don't think the solution is raising teachers' salaries...I think the solution is sanctioning nonperforming teachers, punishing the students as they ought to be and demanding parental involvement...

[Sturm]

I would agree that, like most of our bloated under effective government, it needs to be rebuilt. But the poll options are a bit misleading.

[Dave Sinkula]

I think the solution is sanctioning nonperforming teachers

If the DoE is largely the NEA, how would having a union running education ever meet this end?

I would agree that, like most of our bloated under effective government, it needs to be rebuilt. But the poll options are a bit misleading.

In what way? Let me clarify the "get rid of it" option: "get rid of it". "Rebuild" sounds to me like "keep it".

[Dave Sinkula]

If the DoE is largely the NEA, how would having a union running education ever meet this end?

Sorry, ED (not DoE).

And clarification of the NEA tie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Education_Association#Criticism

[vegaseat]

The Department of Education does a swell job with only 5,000 employees. Just imagine what good of a job it could do with 5,000,000 employees! The No Child Left Behind Act has made our public school system very creative when it comes to fudging the data as required. Finally some federally induced creativity in the school system!

[christina>you]

I don't think there's anything wrong with the Department of Education.

[Dave Sinkula]

I don't think there's anything wrong with the Department of Education.

Can you offer more detail about your opinion? For example, how might you respond to these items (from an earlier link I posted)?

Nine Reasons to Abolish the Department of Education

1. The Constitution provides no authority whatsoever for the federal government to be involved in education. Eliminating the department on those grounds would help to reestablish the original understanding of the enumerated powers of the federal government.
2. No matter how brilliantly designed a federal government program may be, it creates a uniformity among states that is harmful to creativity and improvement. Getting the federal government out of the picture would allow states and local governments to create better ways of addressing education issues and problems.
3. If education were left at the local level, parents would become more involved in reform efforts. Differences in school effectiveness among states and communities would be noted, and other regions would copy the more effective programs and policies.
4. The contest between Congress and state legislatures to demonstrate who cares more about education would be over, allowing members of Congress to focus on areas and problems for which they have legitimate responsibility.
5. Since most information about the problems and challenges of education is present at the local level, Congress simply does not have the ability to improve learning in school classrooms thousands of miles away. These problems are best understood and addressed by local authorities and parents.
6. The inevitable pattern of bureaucracy is to grow bigger and bigger. The Department of Education should be eliminated now, before it evolves into an even larger entity consuming more and more resources that could be better spent by parents themselves.
7. The $47.6 billion spent each year by the Department of Education could be much better spent if it were simply returned to the American people in the form of a tax cut. Parents themselves could then decide how best to spend that money.
8. The Department of Education has a record of waste and abuse. For example, the department reported losing track of $450 million during three consecutive General Accounting Office audits.
9. The Department of Education is an expensive failure that has added paperwork and bureaucracy but little value to the nation’s classrooms.

[Rashakil Fol]

What could go wrong with creating one bureaucracy whose job it is to tell other bureaucracies what to do?

Question: If the curriculum is set to a national standard, should the Department of Education be renamed to the Ministry of Truth?

[EnderX]

Nah, just put the 'Re' on it where it belongs.

[Lardmeister]

We also have a Department of Energy and are dependend on oil more than ever! Do we need to get rid of them too?

[Dave Sinkula]

Okay.

[Lardmeister]

Dave, you sound more and more like a libertarian, get the government of my back type of folks! Good for you!