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In 1867 President Andrew Johnson signed legislation creating the Department of Education (DOE). Its stated goals were to gather information and statistics about our nation’s schools. Just one year later, in 1868, the department was demoted to the Office of Education. The reason for the demotion was a general concern that the department could exercise too much authority over local schools. A potential concern recognized 150 years ago has come become reality today.

The department survived early ebbs and flows in popularity until 1980 when President Jimmy Carter signed a bill that gave the Department of Education full Cabinet status. It was staffed with approximately 3,000 employees, and enjoyed a budget of about $12 billion. Today the DOE employees something over 4,000 people. Its annual operating budget is about $70 billion. It is also responsible for approximately $130 billion in post secondary grants, loans, and work-study assistance. Its mission statement is: To serve American students, to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. Shortly thereafter our students began slipping on the list of global achievement scores.

When the department of Education was established the American education system was the envy of most of the world. According to a study done by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), from a global competitiveness point of view, baby boomers did better than their younger peers. The percent of Americans, aged 55-64, who earned a high school diploma placed us #1 in the world. The percent who earned college degrees placed us 3rd in the world. In contrast, those aged 25-34, ranked 10th globally in earning a high school diploma, and 13th globally in earning a college degree. The CFR reported that 25-44 age group does lead the world in one statistic. They are #1 in the world in college dropouts. This is not meant as an indictment of the younger age group. Certainly there are a number of social and economic reasons that might explain the disparity. The world is definitely a different place today than in 1970. The point I’m making is that we are spending tens of billions of dollars every year to fund a government department that has continuously failed to meet its mission statement. In fact, it has done next to nothing tangible to advance education in our nation.

In a well-managed organization, the DOE would have been jettisoned a long time ago. But then, the government is not a well-managed organization. It doesn’t require its departments to display competency in order to exist. That said, it is time to reduce the size of the DOE and return it to its information and data gathering origins. If we are to improve our educational competitiveness on the global stage we must take advantage of our strengths. Presidents who know next to nothing about education develop idiotic plans like, No Child Left Behind, Common Core, or Every Student Succeeds Act. Then the DOE forces it, from the top down, on all 50 states. Everything about that is wrong.

If we are to improve our educational competitiveness on the global stage we must take advantage of our strengths. We must do the exact opposite of what we are doing now. We have 50 states that are currently being restrained, even retarded, by top down, one size fits all, edicts. We should be using our states as independent education labs. My new DOE would have two main purposes. Its first would be to process data gathered from the states with the intent to identify which state(s) is doing the best job of instructing children in each discipline. Its second duty would be to disseminate the methods and materials used in successful states to the less successful states. That task could be completed using a fraction of the DOE’s current operating budget. Some of the balance could be spent in a number of ways, including organizing on-line briefings with each state’s department of education. Money should be set aside to compensate, and schedule online conferences for the exchange of ideas between, each state’s “teachers of the year”. In this day of technology there is no excuse for keeping the skills of the nation’s best teachers isolated to just one school. The best should be compensated to tutor students, and provide lesson plans for teachers. Those who developed the curriculum that produced the best results should also be additionally compensated for their work.

There are a myriad of ideas that would enhance the learning experience of our students. This country is chock a block full of incredibly intelligent people. Too many of these people are not used to their fullest abilities. Programs need to be developed, then refined, that will keep more of our children in school. We have to do a better job of identifying those students who would benefit from trade schools, then help them get there. Doing a better job of educating our children is critical to the future of our nation. It is a difficult enough problem without the anchor that is the DOE hanging around our neck. In that the DOE has utterly failed our children for decades, it is time to return it to its original data processing roots. I hope you found this post informative. If you did please tell your friends. Thank you, Bob