The Department of Education Budget

Our US federal government spends billions of dollars on the Department of Education.  To be more exact, the FY2011 budget for this department is just under $130 billion dollars.  Yet this department operates no schools, has no pupils or students, and doesn't educate anyone.  Yes, education is primarily a function funded by the state and local governments.

This is the budget showing the FY2011 through FY2016 federal allocations for education:

	FY2012 FEDERAL BUDGET ESTIMATES
	BILLIONS OF $'S
	FY2011	FY2012	FY2013	FY2014	FY2015	FY2016
Total Education	$129.8	$121.1	$118.1	$118.0	$123.4	$128.7
Pre-Primary thru Secondary	$78.2	$49.9	$42.7	$42.6	$42.6	$42.7
Tertiary (Higher Education)	$0.8	$22.3	$27.0	$28.8	$34.5	$40.1
General Science & Basic Research	$14.7	$14.9	$15.7	$14.2	$14.0	$13.8
Research & General Education Aids	$4.0	$3.8	$3.7	$3.7	$3.7	$3.8
Training & Employment	$9.1	$8.7	$8.0	$7.8	$7.7	$7.4
Other Labor Services	$2.2	$2.0	$2.0	$2.0	$2.0	$2.0
Social Services	$20.9	$19.5	$18.9	$18.9	$18.8	$18.9

The Department of Education was originally created in 1867 as means of helping the states create effective school systems.  Over the years, the focus of this department has changed.  Generally, it provides guidance to the public schools regarding current circumstances in the country or the world.  For instance, it was heavily involved in the civil rights movement during the late 1960's and 1970's.  It initially became a cabinet level agency under the administration of President Jimmy Carter in 1980.

Currently, schools in the United States are educating around 56 million elementary and secondary school students in 99,000 public and 34,000 private schools.  The Department of Education also provides grants, student loans, and work-study programs to over 15 million students in the nations colleges and universities.

This information comes from the official website of the Department of Education (http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html).  When you read this, it really sounds like they provide about a quarter of the $130 billion in federal funds to private schools.  Do they?  No.  The money is sent to the illustrious public schools only.  The only thing that is sent to the private schools is an endless supply of rules, regulations, and bureaucracy.  That way they can insure that the private schools give your children a fine education.  Without the help of the Department of Education, how would the private schools ever get this important job done??????

Now lets add in the state and local expenditures on education.  That amounts to $850.7 billion for the 2008-2009 school year.  (I don't have numbers for both in the same year.)  That brings the total government expenditure for education to around $980 billion.  That's right, nearly a trillion dollars that is spent on public education.

If we just look at elementary and secondary education, that is:
     $578 billion at the state and local level
    ~$97 billion at the federal level
    ~$675 billion total

As I said before, I don't have the numbers for the state and local budgets in the same year as the federal budget numbers.  However, I do have the numbers published in the U.S. Department of Education, FY2010 Summary of Performance and Financial Information, Washington, D.C., 2010.  It says that the expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools was budgeted at approximately $540 billion for the 2010-2011 school year.  With 49.4 million students in these schools, the expenditure per student was projected to be $10,792.  Yes, the Department of Education's own financial statistics say that we are spending $10,792 per student to provide mediocre educational results.  Does this cover the entire cost per student?  I'm sorry to report that there is more.  This doesn't cover the capital investments required like the cost of building new school buildings.  In fact, the numbers from different sources never seem to agree.  Is that so surprising?  All of this data comes from tens of thousands of schools in thousands of school districts that are supported by local governments, state governments, and the federal government.  Invariably, the data is several years old, and it is presented in a way that requires a degree in accounting and indoctrination in bureaucratic thinking to understand.

So how does that compare to the private school costs.  The Department of Education report cited above says that there are about 5.8 million students in private elementary and secondary schools.  The CATO Institute website reported back in June of 2009 about a study done in Florida.  This study compared the test scores of private school students that were given state scholarships (i.e. vouchers) against the students that were in the public school system.  It turns out that there was little difference between the scores received.  However, there was a big difference in the costs.  The public school education in Florida costs $11,150 per student, whereas the state only paid $3,950 per student to the private schools.  The conclusion was that "public schools are spending nearly three times as much per pupil and have nothing to show for it."

Government schools (or indoctrination centers or teachers' union halls) are nothing but a bureaucratic money pit.  They also are feeding the MessAPolitico that is our kids' education.  The country is suffering financially.  The kids are suffering financially.  It's time for the government to get out of the education business now.