The “super committee’s” failure to reach an agreement to reduce federal spending is supposed to trigger automatic spending cuts—some of which could decrease funding for the Department of Education beginning in 2013. This has the education unions and Secretary Arne Duncan up in arms. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, stated that this decrease in funding represents “drastic across-the-board cuts to vital programs” resulting in “massive reductions to education programs.” “Massive”? Let’s put this in perspective. The total cuts, if enacted—which some suggest is doubtful—would represent a …
If you happened to be in Washington, D.C., last weekend, you may have run into the “Save Our Schools Rally”—perhaps more accurately titled “Maintain the Status Quo in Education Rally.” The folks over at Reason TV were on hand to talk with participants of the rally and created this short video (language warning) that highlights the left’s misunderstanding of the problems in America’s education system today. For example, Matt Damon, who spoke at the rally, scoffs at the idea of providing incentives to high-performing teachers or firing poorly performing teachers. …
Does the United States spend enough on education? Many messages in the media and from Capitol Hill would suggest that there is a dearth of taxpayer dollars spent on American education today and that if the U.S. can only spend more, student achievement will flourish. However, years of increased spending have led only to bigger budgets and bloated bureaucracy—not improved student achievement—and have similarly failed to empower those with the greatest stake in a child’s education: the family. Research shows that families play a large role in a child’s educational …
As a nation, we shouldn’t have to choose between defense and education. Yet, in a recent ABC News This Week roundtable, the President’s top political advisor, David Axelrod, criticized cuts to the education budget, suggesting that education spending is our defense budget of the future. There is absolutely no doubt that education is essential to a strong nation. However, it is the duty of the federal government to fund a strong national defense, and it is up to the states to govern their education systems. So why is spending on …
Yesterday, President Obama traveled to New Mexico to deliver remarks on education at the home of a local Albuquerque family. According to the Associated Press, “Obama argued that Republicans would cut education spending to pay for tax cuts for the rich.” While the politics of Obama’s assertion can be left to debate by Members of Congress, it is clear that over the years, conservatives have pushed for policies that better target educational dollars. Instead of just throwing more money into the monolithic public education system, which in many instances ends …
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) announced during a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing last Wednesday that he will sponsor a $23 billion emergency jobs bill in response to the country’s education employment situation. During the hearing Education Secretary Arne Duncan described the education job situation as “brutal” and Ramon C. Cortines, Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, warned of decreased academic achievement as communities “continue to hemorrhage teachers and other essential employees.” Although state and federal education leaders worry about any decreases in employment, increases in education labor over the …
We received an email today from Education Secretary Arne Duncan. “By now, I expect you’ve heard the good news,” the Secretary wrote. “…at a time when most government spending is frozen, the President proposed a significant increase in discretionary spending for education in his fiscal year 2011 budget.” We were tempted to respond: What makes you think we’d think this is good news? Secretary Duncan’s email offered a sneak-peak of the highlights of the Obama administration’s 2011 budget for education: “a massive increase in student aid” ($156 billion for 2011), …
Last week, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman tried to sell the merits of second “stimulus” by claiming education spending is being slashed, to the detriment of American students. He contends that education has suffered because of skepticism about the merits of government spending. Krugman writes: There’s no mystery about what’s going on: education is mainly the responsibility of state and local governments, which are in dire fiscal straits. Adequate federal aid could have made a big difference. But while some aid has been provided, it has made up only …
As Congress considered the unprecedented federal spending increase on education programs, Members should take the time to check out the American Legislative Exchange Council’s new Report Card on American Education. The report examines the condition of public schooling in the states and offers policymakers lessons from the experience of our laboratories of democracy. One key finding: simply spending more on education doesn’t guarantee better student outcomes. Former Education Secretary Bill Bennett summarized this point in a foreword to the report: The fact is that more dollars do not necessarily guarantee …
