Hoekstra asks what works and what's wasted in education

Responding to President Clinton's call for more federal involvement in education programs, a leader in the U.S. House of Representatives on education issues said it is important for Congress to determine if what the federal government spends on education programs actually work before agreeing to spend billions of dollars more.

Congressman Pete Hoekstra, who chairs the House Education and the Workforce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, is conducting an investigation titled Education at a Crossroads: What Works and What's Wasted. The purpose of the investigation is to examine the role of the federal government and its more than 760 separate education programs, which span 39 different agencies at a cost of more than $120 billion annually.

We all know that education is at a crossroads in America today, said Hoekstra, R-Mich. The question is, what, exactly, is the problem? Is it the lack of money? Is it the lack of parental involvement? And are federal programs and bureaucracy helping or hurting?

Hoekstra is leading a series of field hearings across the country designed to identify important facts relating to the federal role in education. Hearings have already been held in Los Angeles, New York City, Milwaukee, Chicago and a number of other cities across America, most recently in Wilmington, Del.

Before we launch into a dramatic expansion of Washington's role in education - as President Clinton is proposing - we must first find out whether or not Washington is helping or hurting the education of our children, Hoekstra said. My investigation so far has found that local parents, teachers and administrators are often frustrated with the layers of bureaucracy they must endure to work with the Washington education bureaucracy.

Hoekstra is particularly concerned about the President's proposal to spend $1 billion more on the AmeriCorps program. Last year, Hoekstra conducted hearings on the financial management of AmeriCorps and learned that its financial books were unauditable. He also learned that the federal government already has 14 different literacy programs that cost more than $8 billion a year.

Is it good stewardship to put another $1 billion into an agency which cannot audit its books? Hoekstra said. How will we ever know whether this money actually helps children? Why aren't children already learning to read in the classroom? These questions must be answered before we spend additional taxpayers' dollars on more Washington programs.

Hoekstra is questioning other Clinton proposals, including building schools, putting technology in classrooms, certifying teachers, writing tests, feeding children breakfast and lunch, providing after-school programs, and teaching kids to stay off drugs and practice safe sex.

Other than that, the Clinton Administration is more than willing to give schools autonomy, Hoekstra said. The era of big government isn't over, it's just refocusing its attention on education instead of welfare. If you like what the Washington bureaucracy did for the needy with our welfare system, you will love what President Clinton is proposing to do for our kids' education. Independence Avenue is more and more becoming Dependence Avenue.

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	Education
Hoekstra asks what works and what's wasted in education