WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered remarks during today’s hearing on the nomination of Linda McMahon to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.
Click here to watch the hearing.
Cassidy’s speech as prepared for delivery can be found below:
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will please come to order.
Ms. McMahon, I appreciate you coming before the Committee today. You were very successful leading the Small Business Administration in President Trump’s first term. I am glad the President has given you another opportunity to serve.
You have enormous challenges before you.
At the K-12 level, students who were behind before the pandemic are even further behind now.
According to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, reading scores among 4th and 8th graders declined 5 points since the pandemic. In math, 4th grade scores fell by 5 points and 8th grade scores fell by 8 points.
The failures of traditional K-12 schools are leading more families to try other education options proven to help students succeed, like charter schools. The Biden-Harris Department of Education tried to take these options away from families, enacting onerous regulations that make it harder for charter schools to apply for federal grants; impeding their ability to grow and serve more children.
The Department’s bloated bureaucracy has failed to improve the nation’s education system, and quite likely has made it worse.
There has been a lot of talk about dismantling the Department of Education, and I’m sure that you will be asked this today. But before we begin, I want to explain what the Department of Education actually does.
On average, only about 10 percent of public funds that go toward educating your child comes from the federal taxpayer. Only 10 percent! 90 percent comes from state and local governments.
While the federal government accounts for a small minority of the funding, it’s responsible for the vast majority of bureaucracy and red tape preventing communities from improving educational success.
I’m hearing from schools across the country that they have stopped going after federal competitive grant funding because it’s not worth the hoops and red tape the Department of Education has placed on those dollars.
If schools are not eager to apply for competitive grants to improve operations, something is wrong. Something should change.
It is not only the K-12 system failing students. Colleges and universities are not preparing students to succeed in the modern workforce. The costs of higher education are quickly outpacing the value of the degree students receive. According to a nonpartisan analysis, 23 percent of bachelor’s degree programs and 43 percent of master’s degrees have a negative return on investment.
Too many students leave college woefully unprepared for the workforce while being saddled with overwhelming debt that they cannot pay off. Under the last administration, the Department of Education’s only answer was to transfer hundreds of billions in student debt from those who willingly took it on to Americans who chose not to go to college or had already paid their way through school.
To implement these schemes, the Department dramatically increased the scope and authority of its student loan financing program outside of what Congress previously intended. Your previous experience overseeing SBA loans will be a great asset as the Department looks to reform its student loan program.
We have also seen rampant antisemitism on college campuses, which is leading to attacks and harassment of Jewish students. I am pleased to see that the Trump administration has already launched investigations, and I look forward to working together with you presuming you are confirmed.
The status quo is not working. The education system is failing our children. The Biden-Harris Department of Education stood in the way of student success. Transformative change of the education establishment is needed.
The Department needs to get out of the way of states and local communities, so that they can actually address students’ needs. We also need to empower parents so they have a voice in their child’s education. This includes increasing access to school choice, so families can give their child every opportunity to succeed in the classroom and beyond. With President Trump back in office and Ms. McMahon’s leadership, we have a real opportunity to accomplish this.
Thank you again Ms. McMahon for coming before the Committee, and continuing this discussion on how we can work together to improve student success and get our education system back on track.
###
For all news and updates from HELP Republicans, visit our website or Twitter at @GOPHELP.