Ineffective Programs that are Wasting Your Education Tax Dollars

Despite the growing criticism of the education system in the United States, and decreasing academic performance of the students, little is being done to effectively fix the problems. The Department of Education continues to spend like a drunken sailor on pork projects that have little or no substantive value.

Here are four projects approved by the Department of Education that total over $228 million. These projects were deemed by the Citizens Against Government Waste group as being either redundant, ineffective, or their measure for effectiveness is so vague it's impossible to tell how well they're doing.

Even Start Program ($100,000,000)

Created in 1988, the Even Start program's goal was to attempt to overcome the link between poverty and illiteracy. The program was going to accomplish this by providing family literacy courses for impoverished families. The Department of Education argues that Even Starts early childhood education, parenting education, and adult literacy programs; it creates family situations that will aid in the learning process.

While the goal of this program is worthy, it appears to miss the mark in actually accomplishing what it was designed to do. The Department of Educations studies have shown that there is no difference in the literacy levels of families that are enrolled in the program, and those that are not.

Not only did Even Start fail to achieve its stated goals, it failed to track the progress of families that were receiving assistance. There is no indication that there has been any educational progress since the establishment of the Even Start program.

Leveraging Educational Assistance Program (LEAP) ($65,643,000)

The Leveraging Educational Assistance Program was designed to award individual states with grant money, that would in turn be awarded to financially unstable students for post-secondary education. States were required to match federal spending dollar for dollar.

LEAP appears to be another example of a program that was needed at one time, but that need is no longer there. Despite the fact that the time for this program has passed, LEAP still exists, and receives federal funding annually.

When LEAP began in 1972 only 28 states provided aid on a financial-need basis. Today, only two states fail to provide this assistance. In most cases state spending exceeds federal aid. There is also a statute written into the program that states cannot receive less than they received in 1979.

While LEAP was necessary at one time, it is now a redundant system using education tax dollars that could be better used in other areas.

Byrd Honors Scholarships ($41,000,000)

Names after Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), the scholarships are in place to encourage secondary school students to do well in their studies, and then go on to receive a post-secondary education. However, in a study conducted by Expect More, a program that evaluates the effectiveness of government education programs, students are not given any goals or requirements to qualify for the Byrd Honors scholarship.

Because of the lack of requirements, there is no objective way to determine if students qualify for the scholarship. In addition, there is also a stipulation that states cannot use any funding to determine the success of the program

National Writing Project ($21,750,000)

Established by Congress and developed by the Department of Education, the National Writing Project is in place to improve and enhance the writing skills of teachers. The project funds 180 sites scattered around the country in the hope that teachers will attempt to improve in the art of writing.

Unfortunately, there is no system for determining whether the writing skills teachers who take part in the program actually improve. While studies have been done to determine the "worthiness" of the program, the studies did not compare teachers who took part in the program with teachers that did not.

This is a redundant program. The Department of Education is already spending $3 billion annually on programs to train teachers to be better writers.

Improved education of our children is something we cannot ignore. Our government must do a better job of evaluating the effectiveness of education programs, and eliminate the ones that are no longer effective. That money could be put to a better use