Can Trump Shutter the Department of Education?

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

I doubt that kids today are as smart as they were 20 years ago. BTW, since I have done architectural engineering, I would take that bet.

You would be the exception rather than the rule.

 

[Flopper]

Yeah, those departments will lose some revenue, but far more clerical overhead caused by paperwork to comply with federal dictates. A simple example is the Junior High School I went to in Los Angeles. Mid-sixties: Principal, two vice principals, school nurse and secretary. Now: Principal, two vice principals, six counselors, five attendance staff, nurse, one secretary for each principal and vice principals, ten full time cooks/cafeteria servers, two “resource officers” from LAPD, two full time librarians. All making top dollar with excel any benefit packages and retirements. Most of those jobs are due to federal requirements.

Not So.

Most of the mandates by DOE involve civil rights.

The DOE's Civil Rights Section handles civil rights complaints in the schools, assessing their merit and providing legal defense when possible. If a case is indefensible or ruled against, the DOE issues mandates to schools. The elimination of this section means individual public schools would have to handle and litigate all civil rights complaints on their own, increasing legal burdens. Critics celebrating its demise may not fully understand these consequences.

Most of the increase in paperwork in schools is due to mandates from state DOEs, not the federal DOE. Both state, local, and federal grants add to the paperwork.

 

[Flopper]

I assume you mean the Dept. of Ed not the DOJ... every program intended for rural and urban classrooms can be moved to different agencies... like lunch for underprivileged children can be moved to HHS where it belongs....
The red states have been calling for this for decades... they want more control over the education and funding for their schools...
The Dept. Of Ed is a middleman only.... do you know what a middleman is?... well they take and take and deliver nothing....
There is no need for this federal agency....

Eliminating the DOE does not eliminate the mandates because they are all based on federal law. The federal money just helps the states carry out these mandates.

One of the reasons we need the DOE is because you need people who understand educational finance, administration, curriculum, and special education. They are not just middleman. They evaluate grants, determine exactly how federal money can be used in accordance with legislation. They create the reporting requirements to assure that federal money is spend as it should be. Turn it over to the HHS and you will have a middleman.

 

[Flopper]

Lets not take the money from the states to begin with. Why let Washington take their percentage? Then the states can fend for themselves.

Prior to DOE, there was little federal educational funding so no education dollars were being taking away from the states.

The DOE was founded in order help states implement, legislation passed in 60's, and 70's that effect the schools, primarily, the Civil Rights Act, American Disability Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Higher Education Act of 1965, the Education for All Handicapped Children of of 1975. Schools across country were ignoring the federal legislation primarily because there was no real funding to support the legislation, and there was no guidance coming from Washington, nor dollars.

 

[Rambunctious]

One of the reasons we need the DOE is because you need people who understand educational finance, administration, curriculum, and special education.

Ever since public education was created in America we have had people who understand educational finance administration curriculum and special education in the states...

 

[Flopper]

Ever since public education was created in America we have had people who understand educational finance administration curriculum and special education in the states...

And they work in federal and state DOEs, and school district administration, not in the Treasury Dept or Homeland Security.

Educational finance is complex due to the intertwined roles of federal, state, and local governments, the need to account for diverse student needs and regional costs, and the ongoing debate around funding adequacy and equity

 

[Rambunctious]

And they work in federal and state DOEs, and school district administration, not in the Treasury Dept or Homeland Security.

Educational finance is complex due to the intertwined roles of federal, state, and local governments, the need to account for diverse student needs and regional costs, and the ongoing debate around funding adequacy and equity

The Dept. was created in 1979 and if you check you will see that is when the downturn in test scores began...