E&W Blog

Today, the Education and Workforce Committee kicked off its first hearing of the 119th Congress, which examined the state of American education. From preschool to law school, the state of this nation’s education system is deeply troubling. 
Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) began the hearing by highlighting that “many students are failing to graduate from high school or college with the skills needed to be successful. In too many places, education in core subjects like math and reading is being replaced by indoctrination.”
 
Many schools have become fixated on teaching divisive ideologies. Unfortunately, these efforts have been fueled by the federal government itself. In 2024, researchers with Parents Defending Education (PDE) found that the Biden-Harris administration spent over $1 billion on DEI grants. 
This is hurting students directly. In response to Rep. Michael Rulli’s (R-OH) question about DEI, Nicole Neily, PDE President, said “[W]e want as a country to encourage students to excel to work hard – these are virtues that made America the envy of the world…[F]or teachers and administrators to tell people because of your skin color you can’t achieve, or you can’t do better, the country is systemically racist is a real insult.”
  
Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO) pointed out that taxpayers are spending more and more on education but getting worse and worse results. Look no further than the recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, which continued the concerning trend of declining performance nationwide. While Republicans want transparency and innovative solutions, Democrats want taxpayers to cough up more and more money to throw blindly at bureaucracies.
 
On the issue of education freedom, Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) recounted the heartbreaking story of a student in his district who was the victim of bullying and was denied access to a learning environment that would allow her to thrive. “If you look at public opinion polling, overwhelmingly it is in favor of school choice. [It] is the minority position to oppose choice in K-12 education. That is a losing position. It is failing. It is not only failing our public it is failing students like the one I talked about today.”
  
In the higher education space, Chairwoman Emerita Virginia Foxx (R-NC) criticized the current system for allowing people to borrow unlimited amounts of money even when the federal government determines they have no ability to pay back the loans. In particular, Foxx called out the predatory parent PLUS loan program, which the Committee took steps to sunset last Congress. Supporters of the education bureaucracy claimed it would limit access to higher education. Dr. Preston Cooper, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, pointed out that colleges, not students, are benefiting from this program. “Not allowing schools to foist unlimited loans onto parents” is a good thing, said Dr. Cooper. Is this impacting the nation’s workforce? Absolutely. Mr. Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., President and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, pointed out that on the employment side “people show up with a $150,000 in debt and an undergrad degree in art” and “it has made it very difficult for employers to retain high-quality people.”
 
Turning to workforce development, Mr. Taylor said “employers need talent.” With more than 8 million unfilled jobs in the U.S. and nearly 7 million unemployed individuals, it’s obvious that our current workforce development systems need a lot of work. Fortunately, the Committee has developed bipartisan reforms to improve the workforce system and allow Pell Grants to support students in high-quality, short-term workforce education programs.
 
Bottom line: the current bureaucracy is failing students, parents, and job creators, and Committee Republicans are ready to meet these challenges.