Virginia Foxx: “Over the last four decades, the Federal Government's role in elementary and secondary education has increased…”

“Over the last four decades, the Federal Government's role in elementary and secondary education has increased dramatically. The Department of Education currently runs more than 80 K-12 education programs, many of which are duplicative or ineffective. As a school board member, I saw how the vast reporting requirements for these Federal programs tie the hands of State and local leaders who want to make the best education available for their students. Since 1965, Federal education funding has tripled; yet student achievement remains flat. More money is clearly not going to solve the challenges we face in education. Our children deserve better. It's time to acknowledge more taxpayer dollars and more Federal intrusion cannot address the challenges facing schools. H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, will streamline the Nation's education system by eliminating more than 70 duplicative and ineffective Federal education programs; cutting through the bureaucratic red tape that is stifling innovation in the classroom; and granting States and school districts the authority to use Federal education funds to meet the unique needs of their students. The bill also requires the Secretary of Education to identify the bureaucrats in Washington who run the programs to be consolidated or eliminated in H.R. 5 and eliminate those positions to ensure that the bureaucracy shrinks with the programs.…”