Monday, March 1, 2010

Throwing More Money Down a Hole

For an administration that pretends to care about the deficit, the Obama administration has no problem spending more money on just about anything. The latest is $900 million in so-called "turnaround grants" for schools. The money will be handed out to "low-performing schools that opt for one of four reform models." Because throwing good money after bad is always a wise move.

It has long been my opinion that one of the prime areas where we can slash government funding is in education. The role of the federal government should be to set national standards, not to bail out schools in states that can't manage their own education systems. Believe it or not, there is nothing in the Constitution about federal funding for education or federal control. It was and should be a matter for states and localities. Not only are we burning an ever increasing amount of money for little return, but we have created and are deepening a culture of dependence -- where the states can't function without more and more federal assistance.  I know this won't happen, but we need major cuts in federal education spending, not more grant money to states.

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