About every three years or so as America prepares for one more Presidential election, invariably the Republican candidates for President, will speak of their plans when elected to eliminate the Department of Education. This is a very popular position within the Republican Party and has been since it was officially established as a Cabinet level agency in 1980. For many, the Department of Education is seen as one more bureaucratic agency staffed to the gills with unnecessary and politically appointed cronies wasting taxpayer money.
Nothing could be farther from the truth when one takes a closer look at the Department of Education's mandate and how they perform. The original Department of Education was created in 1867. The early emphasis was to collect information on schools and teaching to be able to assist states establish effective schools. Over the last 130 years, not much has changed in terms of mission. The Department of Education provides school administrators and educators with information on teaching that works.
The Department's official mission is, "to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access." That mission is particularly important today as the United States is faced with extraordinary challenges within the global economy. Our citizens must be able to compete and it all starts with arming our young people with the education they need. Education is the only answer for our nation to be competitive. Leaving that to the individual 50 states seems less than productive and frankly, a bit hit and miss.
The Department employs its mission by fostering a continuing dialogue with educators and adminstrators improving education and educational results. The Department serves as facilitator of the dialogue; disseminator of information and results passing them on to all states and their respective leadership. Secondly, the Department of Education demands access be available for all citizens and offers incentives and rewards for excellence.
There is no question that the Department of Education has grown substantially over the years, especially since its Cabinet level inception in 1980. The Department currently has the third largest budget of all discretionary spending in the United States only lagging behind the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services. That is a huge amount of taxpayer money. The Department's 2012 budget is estimated at $77.4 billion. Almost ten times that amount is allocated for the Department of Defense. ($670.9 billion)
Although the Department of Education's budget has increased significantly, the staffing levels have not. Out of all the Cabinet agencies, it has the smallest staff. In fact, the administrative costs of the Department of Education are only 2% of the entire discretionary budget. Only 1% administrative costs of all the grants and loans the Department administers totaling $120 billion. Truth be told, the Department of Education is a fairly lean governmental agency compared to its counterparts not only in government but also in the private sector.
In effect, the Department of Education does better than most charitable organizations in the United States by delivering 99 cents out of the dollar to their recipients. This includes assistance to states, school districts, colleges and universities and most important of all, students. One may not always agree with the appropriations designated for states and their programs. However, one federal agency makes a tremendous amount of sense when the goal is to provide access to all Americans as well as the opportunity to find success through education for all of our students.
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