What Federal Policymakers Should Do

Although the word "education" is not mentioned in the Constitution, the federal government has played a growing role in the funding and regulation of elementary and secondary education since the 1960s. This interventionist policy has hindered rather than advanced the progress of educational improvement in America. The following principles should form the basis for full reform in American education.

• Resist increasing federal authority. Decades of increased federal intervention have failed to deliver significantly improved student performance in long-term measures of academic achievement. No Child Left Behind has once again demonstrated the limited and potential unintended consequences of increased federal authority.
• The federal government provides 9.2 percent of the funding for public education.¹ Members of Congress should recognize the limits of federal authority in education and resist increasing federal power even more.
• Streamline federal programs and bureaucracy. The federal government currently spends more than $71 billion on elementary and secondary education through more than a hundred programs run by more than a dozen agencies.² In 2008, the Bush Administration proposed the termination of 47 Department of Education programs (funded at $3.3 billion in 2008), which had achieved their purpose, are duplicated by other programs, are focused too narrowly, or are unable to demonstrate effectiveness.³
• Each year, Congress also appropriates hundreds of millions of dollars for education earmarks targeted for specific purposes chosen by Members of Congress.⁴ Federal education reform should consolidate or eliminate federal programs, cut down severely on bureaucracy, and provide funding directly to state and local governments-and let them determine how to allocate resources to best assist students.
• Reform NCLB to protect transparency and restore state authority. Congress should reform No Child Left Behind to liberate states from excessive federal regulations and bureaucracy and give state and local authorities the opportunity to implement reforms designed to meet local students' needs most effectively. This approach was proposed by Senators Jim DeMint (R-SC) and John Cornyn (R-TX) in their Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (A-PLUS) Act.⁵
  

  This policy would restore federalism and greater state and local control in education, moving decisions affecting students and schools closer to parents and taxpayers and encouraging state-led innovation. A participating state would be allowed to receive its share of funding for NCLB programs free of federal requirements and regulations if the state meets basic requirements that include (1) maintaining academic standards and continued annual testing, (2) reporting test performance of specific groups of students by disaggregating data and reporting information to parents and the public, and (3) continuing to use federal funding to assist disadvantaged students. The Secretary of Education would have the power to review and terminate the performance agreement if these terms are not met. This approach would protect state-level academic transparency by removing incentives for states to reduce standards to make tests easier to pass.

• Expand school choice in Washington, D.C. Since the federal government has oversight over the District of Columbia's school system, Congress should work with local policymakers to reform the District's education policies to allow parents greater autonomy to choose their child's school and encourage schools to create quality learning environments to attract students. Specifically, Congress should expand the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program both to allow more children to participate and to create new school choice options for families in the nation's capital.

What State and Local Policymakers Should Do

State and local policymakers should implement comprehensive education reforms. Specifically, they should implement policies to give all families the opportunity to send their children to safe and effective schools, hold schools and students accountable for results, and implement policies designed to promote school-level leadership and improve teacher quality.

• Expand educational freedom. State and local policymakers should implement policies that include school vouchers, tuition scholarships, and education tax credits. They should also expand parental choice within the public education system by enacting strong public-school choice, promote charter school options, and offer innovative alternatives such as distance learning. States should also create legal protections for home schooling and expand education savings options for families, such as state-level tax deductions or credits for contributions to Coverdell Education Savings Accounts.
• Hold schools and students accountable for results. States should continue to hold public schools accountable for results by establishing academic standards and testing students annually to ensure that children are learning. States should move forward with innovative testing systems that allow teachers and parents to determine more accurately whether individual children are making progress each year. In addition, state policymakers should eliminate social promotion once and for all and develop policies to provide remediation to children who are at risk of falling behind.
• Encourage effective school leadership and teacher quality. State and local policymakers should promote innovation and competition within the public school system by encouraging greater school leadership and should pursue strategies for improving teacher quality such as merit-pay systems and alternative-teaching certification.

Conclusion

Twenty-five years after the seminal report A Nation at Risk, American education remains in a state of crisis. Millions of students continue to pass through the public schools without mastering basic skills and knowledge. Policymakers and the public must recognize both this persistent failure and the attendant need for systemic reform in American education.

At the federal level, Congress should reform federal education policies to protect academic transparency, eliminate inefficient bureaucracy, and encourage innovation at the state and local levels. Policymakers should embrace policies that give more families the freedom to choose their children's school; allow school leaders to innovate and develop successful school models and improve teacher quality; and allow parents, lawmakers, and the general public to hold public schools and students accountable for results.

This solution is excerpted from an article of the same name originally published as a Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #2125 on 04/21/08