In Case You Missed It, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) spoke to Rick Hess for Education Week’s Straight Up opinion blog regarding her accomplishments, frustrations, and takeaways during her tenure as Chairwoman of the Education and the Workforce Committee.
Oversight Accomplishments: “At the start of this Congress, I said, ‘You can’t have good governance without good oversight. And I intend to have both.’ Following through on that mission, we have sent hundreds of oversight letters since the start of the 118th Congress.
Antisemitism
“The committee released a very damning report in October that details the behind-the-scenes decision making at universities across America during the fallout from October 7. Board meeting minutes, private messages, transcribed interviews, and more show that nobody was taking this seriously. First and foremost, they saw it as a public relations crisis.”
COVID
“Our work helped expose the flawed management of COVID spending that created an environment conducive to fraud, waste, and abuse. … Sending 300 percent more funding to K–12 schools than what is typically allocated by the Department of Education without instituting strong transparency and accountability measures is reckless. … Money is not a cure-all, and it is irresponsible to throw more money at a problem and call it a solution.”
Frustration with College-For-All Mentality: “I really disagree with this outdated notion that everyone needs a baccalaureate degree to be successful in this country. It was pervasive and very frustrating when I first got to Washington. … I think people are waking up to the fact that America is returning to a skills-based economy and that not everyone needs to go to a traditional college or university. It’s a battle I’ve fought for a long time. …I think we are finally beginning to see the fruits of this new way of thinking as skills-based legislation, such as the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act and A Stronger Workforce for America Act, attracts more and more support.”
Key Achievements:
Lowering College Costs
“The College Cost Reduction Act would lower the cost of postsecondary education for students and families. Among other reforms, the bill provides a permanent fix to our broken student-loan system by simplifying loan and repayment options and offering targeted relief to borrowers who need it, rather than illegal debt-transfer schemes. Most importantly, it addresses the root cause of the student-loan disaster by making colleges cover some of the losses when their graduates fail to repay their loans—in other words, requiring schools to have ‘skin in the game.’”
Promoting School Choice
“I grew up poor. My parents didn’t have much, but they were extremely hard workers. I knew that the only way to get out of poverty was through education. This is why I fight tooth and nail to support school choice legislation, because educational choice is powerful—with it, students can be successful not just in the classroom but in the years after.”
Protecting Parents’ Rights
“The Parents Bill of Rights Act rests on the principle that parents should always have a seat at the table when it comes to their children’s education. In recent years, I saw parents get left in the dark frequently and wanted to do something about it. …When parents are involved in their child’s education, students thrive. That is the guiding principle of this bill.”
Advice to President Trump: “There is massive bureaucracy at the Education Department, and its not serving students well. Just last month, we learned that the department failed its audit for the third year in a row. Clearly, the status quo is not working. Programs that aren’t delivering on the outcomes they promised should be seriously evaluated.”
Advice to Successor: “While leading the committee can sometimes be frustrating and often messy, you can’t pick more rewarding work than looking out for the interests of students and workers—'work’ being the operative word! Our current education system is not producing enough students who can think for themselves. Americans want an education system that makes independent thought a priority and teaches students how to think rather than what to think. So, my successor will be stepping into the role with some favorable headwinds for crafting education and workforce policy.”
