Just a reminder that over 90% of the budget for the federal Dept. of Education goes to Pell grants, student loans, under resourced public schools, and those who are serviced through special education.

To be specific, it offers services and oversight that are desperately needed. From the overview from the federal government’s website:

And that’s just not for K-12 institutions.

Have a student loan from the federal government? Department of Education handles that.

Those lunches for students living in poverty? Department of Education.

Around 8% of the public education budget for the state of North Carolina? Comes from the Department of Education.

Imagine having 51 different entities measuring achievement and growth in thier own ways and trying to compare them.

Have a child with an IEP? Enforced and backed up by the Department of Education.

Project 2025 has called for the elimination of the federal Department of Education. But to eliminate the Dept. of Ed. would be to remove both a cohesive entity that provides oversight, funding, and support for our state’s schools that could never be replaced within our own capacity.

Look at how low our state minimum wage is. Look at our unemployment benefits. Look at how badly we provide oversight in our own voucher system.

And look at our ranking right now of public education funding compared to the rest of the country.

Through the pandemic, the federal government literally kept our schools afloat. Here’s a rundown of the ESSERS funds that were so crucial to public schools.

Those funds are no longer given as we have “recovered” from the pandemic, but look at what we as a state received from the federal Dept. of Education as part of recurring funds.

NC is tied for 19th in the ranking of states as far as funding from the federal government for public education is concerned.

We are 46th as far as total investment in our public schools is concerned.

That’s a scathing indictment.

And we want to give more to vouchers?