Friday Feature: Incubate Debate

Colleen Hroncich

Should the Department of Education be shut down? Normally, I’m an easy yes on that question for several reasons: the federal government has no constitutional role in education; the department is essentially just a middleman, siphoning off money to fund its bureaucracy and increasing the red tape states and schools must deal with; there’s no evidence having a federal department has improved education; and there’s plenty of evidence more federal involvement has increased costs—especially in higher education.