President Obama’s near-term spending proposals for the Department of Education (DOE) are a staggering display of federal profligacy. They include the recently released fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget request and an education “blueprint” outlining $60 billion in additional spending. If enacted, these proposals would mean that in one term, President Obama has spent almost as much on education as President George W. Bush spent in two terms—even considering the fact that Bush nearly doubled the size of the DOE. President Obama’s FY 2013 budget request for the DOE increases the … More
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More than half of states have asked the U.S. Department of Education for a waiver from No Child Left Behind. Ten years after President George W. Bush signed the law, the Obama administration appears willing to grant waivers, so long as states adopt a new set of requirements favored by the current occupant in the White House. Chief among them is the Common Core State Standards, national standards and tests that require states to surrender control of their classrooms. That doesn’t sit well with Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), a former … More
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Four years after data collection was completed, Americans are still awaiting the results of a study conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the impact of the federal Head Start program. “The United States fought and won in the Pacific and Atlantic fronts of World War II in less time,” writes Carrie Lukas, managing director of the Independent Women’s Forum. Lukas goes on to say: Imagine the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] was conducting a clinical trial about a medication that nearly one million toddlers use … More
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In a press release issued late Thursday afternoon, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the following in response to skepticism on the part of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R) about the Common Core national standards push: The idea that the Common Core standards are nationally-imposed is a conspiracy theory in search of a conspiracy. The Common Core academic standards were both developed and adopted by the states, and they have widespread bipartisan support. The secretary’s defensive statement is telling: If the Common Core standards are truly state-led, it is curious … More
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A bipartisan group of lawmakers today promised to defend the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program for low-income families following President Obama’s decision to eliminate funding in his budget. “The bipartisan, grassroots coalition responsible for keeping the Opportunity Scholarship Program alive will continue speaking out, and I’ll be standing alongside them every step of the way,” Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said Tuesday. Boehner teamed with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) last year to sponsor legislation to save the program. It was eventually reauthorized for five years under the bipartisan budget agreement. More than … More
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Education Secretary Arne Duncan called for dramatically raising teacher pay last Friday on MSNBC, declaring that the current average salary (about $55,000) should be doubled to improve teacher quality. It’s a familiar refrain for Duncan, who in the same interview declared himself a “radical” when it comes to paying teachers more. Leaving aside whether the federal government should have any say in how local school districts pay their teachers, Duncan’s position is unwise. According to a recent study by The Heritage Foundation, public school teachers already receive total compensation (wages … More
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No Child Left Behind (NCLB) turned 10 yesterday, and the anniversary is a good time to assess the toll of federal education intervention and to identify steps Congress can take now toward restoring constitutional governance in education. Eight legislative generations before NCLB, Washington first ventured into local school policy with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). The 31-page, $1 billion Great Society program funded low-income districts in an effort to close the achievement gap between needy students and their peers. Nearly a half-century later, the situation is … More
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American taxpayers, businesses, and families are outraged by the nationalization of health care through Obamacare. They’re upset by the federal overreach, the loss of health care choices they’ll soon face, Obamacare’s astounding price tag, and the opaque process by which this massive legislation was enacted. If they found Obamacare upsetting, then Americans should take a look at the Obama Administration’s overreach in education. Last week, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) did just that, examining the push for national standards during a meeting of its Education Task Force. For the … More
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