Press Releases

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, today introduced the first in a series of education reform bills planned by the House Education and the Workforce Committee. Rep. Hunter’s legislation, the Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act (H.R. 1891), would begin the process of weeding out inefficient and unnecessary K-12 education programs. 

Under current law, the Department of Education operates more than 80 programs tied to K-12 classrooms. The Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act would eliminate 43 unnecessary programs, thereby streamlining federal education funding and protecting taxpayer dollars from being wasted on ineffective initiatives.

In a floor statement this morning, Rep. Hunter said, “It’s time to trim the fat. Today I will introduce legislation that will eliminate – not consolidate, not defund, but eliminate –  43 wasteful K-12 education programs. At a time when approximately one-third of American fourth graders can’t read, we must concentrate on education initiatives that have a track record of putting the needs of students first.”

Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) expressed strong support for the legislation. “Federal education spending has more than quadrupled since 1980, but student achievement levels remain stagnant,” Chairman Kline said. “Clearly, the problem isn’t how much money we spend on education, but how we’re spending it – and right now, far too many taxpayer dollars are dedicated to ineffective, redundant K-12 programs. Rep. Hunter’s legislation will reduce the federal role in education and help set the stage for increased flexibility on the state and local level.”

Watch Rep. Hunter’s floor statement:

To view a bill summary and list of programs targeted for elimination, click here.

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