Big Spending. Poor Results. The Education Crisis Continues.

Take a moment and imagine a large company. This company is well known and has existed for over a half-century. During this time span the company has watched as others surpass it in both innovation and productivity - while continually raising its overhead costs and expanding waste. It's hard to fathom a company like this surviving in the real world. Yet, imagine if this same company came back year after year asking for additional funding from investors only to maintain operations under the same, tired business model. Sound crazy? This is the business of educating America's children. The United States has invested more than two trillion dollars in education over the past fifty years with sub-standard returns, at best. The Obama Administration plans to continue this tact and compound past failures with increased spending in the Fiscal Year 2012 Budget. The Department of Education will dodge cuts in the proposed plans and garner a staggering $77 Billion in funding. This allocation will support K-12 Education and Higher Learning. These figures will represent an increase over spending in the year 2000 by more than $25 Billion. In fact, the DOE budget will have increased by nearly 60% in the last decade alone. Beyond this, the DOE has received even more funding through allocations outlined in the Stimulus packages. These allocations total some $100 Billion. Taking these record numbers into account, education has quickly become the third largest discretionary entity behind only the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services. Despite these historic increases, graduation rates have stagnated, achievement gaps persist, and overall achievement has faltered. Drastic changes must be made. Policies must be enacted to streamline this cumbersome system. Hefty spending cuts are a necessity. Make no mistake about it. The task of educating America's youth is of paramount importance. However, it must be handled in a responsible, efficient manner. Funding of this magnitude is simply not sustainable under the ever ballooning national debt umbrella. For decades American families have watched taxpayer dollars travel to Washington only to be poorly filtered back through bureaucracy networks. States can better serve their communities and must take steps to opt out of wasteful Federal initiatives. It's time to put local leaders at the helm and get this boat headed in the right direction.