DOGE & THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Long targeted as a waste of money, the Department of Education was never in our Founders’ minds. In fact, it didn’t exist until 1979, when Jimmy Carter created it with a goal of helping to eliminate racial discrimination for children attending classes. This is no longer an issue. Carter also used the promise of the department to win votes primarily from the largest teachers’ union, the National Education Association (NEA). He felt it was right to recognize the importance of education in making our country great. The result was a huge consolidation. More important, neither the federal government or this department should be involved in defining curriculum or educational standards, as per the 10th Amendment.
It grew into its present-day monster by giving itself the following goals:
· Create the policies around educational financial aid, distributing money and monitoring those funds. (But do they monitor?)
· Collecting data on schools and spreading this information around.
· Focusing national attention on key educational issues, while making recommendations on reform.
· Prohibiting discrimination while ensuring equal access to education.
The Department usually costs us around $79BB and has 4,400 employees, which, though small by government standards, is still a LOT of money. Originally, some education functions were housed in other departments, but by bringing it all together and lavishing more power on the department, the result was teachers’ unions having undue influence, which led inevitably to failed schools, and most recently, the highest proportion of high school grads who can barely read. The Covid disaster highlighted that neither locally nor nationally could one count on this department for guidance that provided a quality education for students. When a department is focused on stakeholders, but not its clients, there is a problem. The students are the clients and they are not receiving the promised service.
How it “Works” Today
In 2024, the Department spent $250BB, a huge uptick, including $1BB for DEI programs under Biden. As has been reported before for colleges, administrative costs skyrocketed with the larger budget, an increase many times higher than the increase in the number of either students or teachers.
Today, funding is doled out based on compliance. Politically correct rules are in place, forcing certain agendas and educational goals and prohibiting others. Among the many failures, let’s not forget Common Core, mandated across the nation, resulting in children who weren’t able to learn. The result was teaching to the tests, supplying test answers and simply forging results. It didn’t help children actually learn.
When I was a child, phonics was how you learned to read, and it worked for almost everyone. There were some options for those for whom it didn’t work. Now, phonics isn’t allowed. I had the New Math (before the DOE), but other iterations further confused children, when straightforward math instruction with plenty of examples and homework simply works.
Epic Fail
These costly and often unconstitutional initiatives have resulted in a degradation in educational results starting in 1980. Ironically, minority children were starting to do better until the unions began to hold sway, despite often having lower funding in their schools. What’s being taught now is really propaganda, not the core learning that ensures that every child has a chance at success. We are now 18th in international ranking and those countries ahead of us are not all our friends. The impact of an information society where most children can’t participate means America will stop being a leader in innovation and success. Children will be stuck in low-end jobs (often beaten out by illegal immigrants) and spend their lives in parents’ basements. Is this what we want?
The Department of Education is primarily a jobs program for administrators now. While we spend more than any other country, we get worse results.
Check out the great work of Civl on DOGE. See the link below. Thank you, Matt Kibbe for your excellent video on this department.
And even in the face of facts the left still resists changes. At what point do the opponents throw in the towel and admit we need to do something else. We hear stories about no homework, eliminating tests, and as you noted, not even teaching fundamentals. We won’t even go into parents being labeled domestic terrorists for speaking out at school board meetings. ☹️