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Every year, taxpayers must send billions of dollars to Washington in order to fund federal education programs through the U.S. Department of Education and other agencies—which then redistribute that money back to individual states through a complex system of formula and competitive grant programs.
By restoring greater state control of education, the A-PLUS Actwould allow states to end inefficient and ineffective federalprograms, reallocate funds toward state-directed initiatives toimprove student learning, and reduce spending on administrativecosts and bureaucracy. State policymakers, with greater input fromparents and other stakeholders, could take responsibility forstrengthening public education in local communities.
American education is at a crossroads. The federal government’s role in education has grown significantly over the past half-century, infringing on our long-held principle of federalism in education. Massive spending increases, and the reams of regulations that accompany them, have not led to better results. Meaningful reforms like school choice, moreover, have been stymied by special interests. To restore a sense of self-government, empower families, and yield educational excellence, it is imperative that educational authority be returned to states and local leaders and parents.
No Child Left Behind (NCLB), a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, has been slated for its own reauthorization since 2007. Since that time, Congress has considered various proposals to rewrite the 600-page education law, without reaching a consensus, leaving NCLB to continue to operate as it has since 2002. While policymakers agree No Child Left Behind is broken, there is less agreement about how to move forward.
Federal and state lawmakers should advance education reforms that will return dollars and decision making to the families of K–12 students.