As the Obama Administration pushes for a ninth reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, conservatives in Congress are offering alternatives to the failed status quo of Washington-driven education policy. Representative John Kline (R–MN), chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, has introduced a new bill to provide states and school districts with more flexibility in how they allocate federal education dollars. The flexibility bill is the third in a series of proposals put forward by the committee to restore educational control to state and local leaders. The proposal …
“A recent national survey revealed an overwhelming majority of American voters believe they aren’t getting their money’s worth from public schools,” writes Representative John Kline (R–MN), chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, yesterday in the Indianapolis Star. And with data showing that education spending has tripled in the last 30 years while student achievement has stagnated, it’s no wonder people are alarmed. Yet, despite the long track record of failing to improve the nation’s schools, for the last 45 years the United States has continued to take …
When Congressman John Kline (R–MN) served as a Marine, “one of [his] assignments was to carry the ‘football’—the package containing the nuclear launch codes—for presidents Carter and Reagan,” writes George Will in profile of the House Education and Workforce Committee chairman last week. Now Kline is quarterbacking the House approach to the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), which, Will says, “soon will be 10 years old and may not recognizably survive to see its 12th birthday.” As Will reports, Kline “emphatically favors ‘a greatly reduced federal footprint’ in …
Greater federal control is not the answer to improving the nation’s education system. And Rep. John Kline (R–MN) agrees. Speaking of the current push for states to adopt national education standards—specifically the federal government tying federal Race to the Top (RTTT) and Title I funding to states’ adoption of the standards—the Congressman told Education Week: I’m very leery when [the action] shifts over to the U.S. Department of Education providing either rewards or punishment [for adopting certain standards]. That’s dangerous.
Few members of Congress come to Washington to fight corrupting earmark spending. Usually new members come to Capitol Hill with the best intentions to help their constituents as best as they can … often including directing as much federal money as possible back to their district. Rep. John Kline (R-MN) was no different. When he first came to Congress, Kline fought as best he could do game the earmark system for the benefit of his district. But after one budget cycle when fellow member Rep. James Oberstar’s (D-MN) district received …
