"most educational funding is at the municipal level."
No, I was not aware of the ratio. I had it pictured the other way around. Does the following commentary seem fairl accurate to you? Do you agree with Lazarus that it should be entirely scrapped?
"Created in 1979, the Department of Education (ED) is one of the newest and smallest Cabinet-level departments. With an annual appropriation of $32.3 billion, its 4,787 employees have the following missions: (1) to provide financial aid for education and monitor its use; (2) to fund and pursue education-related research and information dissemination; (3) to ensure equal access to education and enforce Federal statutes prohibiting discrimination in federally funded programs and activities; and (4) to provide national leadership in identifying and focusing attention on major educational issues and problems.
ED administers an array of student financial assistance programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. These programs provide grants, loans, and work-study support to postsecondary education. In fiscal year 1995, the Federal Government provided over $35 billion to about 7 million postsecondary students. Of this total, $14.3 billion (41 percent) went to guaranteed student loans and $5.4 billion (or 15 percent) was paid in Pell grants.\1\ Since its creation, the Department has doubled its budget from around $15 billion to over $32 billion. Over 200 categorical programs are administered within the Department today.
ED also continues to have the highest percentage of political appointees among individual departments. As of September 1995, ED had a ratio of one political employee for every 33 civil service employees. The next lowest ratio was at the Department of Housing and Urban Development with one political employee for every 100 civil service employees. Political appointees include Presidential appointees requiring Senate confirmation, noncareer Senior Executive Service appointees, and Schedule C appointees.\2
According to the Department's Inspector General, the three most significant problems facing ED are (1) the absence of performance standards for its programs and operations, (2) weaknesses in the design and operation of student financial assistance programs, and (3) weaknesses in the Department's financial management systems.\3\ Student loan programs, with annual losses of over $2 billion, remain the single highest-risk of ED's operations.\4
ED is making progress in addressing some of its core management problems. It is implementing many recommendations by its IG and GAO for improvements in student assistance program management. ED also is moving to develop comprehensive and reliable financial management and information systems. Student loan losses, while still very high, have declined significantly in recent years. On the other hand, ED has neglected its responsibilities in one key area of student assistance program oversight_``gatekeeping.''
Given the pervasive nature of its problems, much work remains to be done if ED is to become an effective and efficient operation. Further, its progress may be hampered by long-standing weaknesses in such areas as management organizational and structure and human resource practices." |
