February 10th, 2025
Dear Readers,
Over the past week, there has been much in the news about Elon Musk and the work he’s doing with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
This newly founded government agency aims to find the waste in other governmental departments such as the FBI, EPA, USAID, and other government agencies.
As a teacher, I have a vested interest in the Department of Education, so I did my own mini-audit. The Department of Education (hereafter referred to as ED) distributes federal funding for schools, enforces education laws — Title IX and IDEA — and collects data to guide policy. It also oversees higher education regulations, manages federal student loans, and supports programs for disadvantaged students.
For the fiscal year 2024, ED's annual budget was approximately $240 billion.
With such a large amount, one might think that America boasts one of, if not the best, educational systems in the world.
But anyone who works in (public) education knows things are only getting worse.
According to the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 26% of 8th graders in the U.S. are proficient in mathematics, and just 33% are proficient in reading.
Teacher shortages in public schools have become more severe, with over 300,000 teaching vacancies in 2023. The average teacher salary in the U.S. was about $58,000 in 2021, a figure that varies significantly across states, causing many teachers to work second jobs or even leave the profession altogether.
Some of these numbers aren’t adding up. With nearly a quarter of a trillion-dollar budget, one might think that some of these problems could be rectified.
Here’s just some of what they spent last year:
$24.6 billion for Pell Grants, supporting low-income undergraduate students, and additional funds for Direct Student Loans.
$17.5 billion to Title I Grants, which help schools with high percentages of students from low-income families, and approximately $15.5 billion for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which funds special education services.
$90 billion in discretionary funding for K-12 education.
$1.1 billion on TRIO Programs, which support students from "disadvantaged" backgrounds.
$200 million for Civil Rights Enforcement to ensure compliance with federal civil rights laws in education.
$1 billion for Data Collection and Research to gather and analyze data on U.S. schools.
$500 million for Teacher Quality Partnerships to enhance teacher preparation and "professional development."
This is a highly condensed version of the “budget.” If you wish to do a more thorough combing through of the allocated funds, feel free to read the budget yourself.
Needless to say, many of the things they spent money on seem like a waste of taxpayer dollars, not to mention the salaries of all the people who work in ED.
Many people, including myself, at the very least, believe that these funds could be allocated better, allocated for issues and systems that deserve the funds instead of subsidizing higher education or giving more money to the schools that need it and less to the schools that don’t.
Obviously, public education is flawed.
Some even call for the dismantling of the entire system. In comparison, there may be some merit to that argument (that the free market would educate the masses better than the state). Without a proper plan in place, a strategy that ensures that students will receive a quality education, dismantling the Department of Education could lead to long-term turmoil for everyone.
