The Native Iowan

Damn! Another month almost shot. Time sure flies… when its bucketing down with rain…

So, as March ends, as the 1st quarter of 2025 expires, as the world sizzles and political rhetoric is turned to High Volume… I watch and listen. And am quite surprised by what I see…

I wonder why fiscal management in the public venue is such a bad idea. I wonder why raising the standard of the education system(s) is such a bad idea. I wonder why anyone would disagree with smarter, wiser, more effective (?) foreign aid. Less wars, less refugees, less pain and suffering… I am confused.

Lets look at a couple things…

Education:

In 1867, the Congress of the United States passed legislation providing ‘‘That there shall be established at the City of Washington, a department of education, for the purpose of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories, and of diffusing such information respecting the organization and management of schools and school systems, and methods of teaching, as shall aid the people of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country.’’ The department was to be headed by a Commissioner of Education. The Commissioner was to be paid a salary of $4,000 a year, and he was authorized to appoint three clerks, at annual salaries of $2,000, $1,800, and $1,600, to help him carry out his duties.

I have been trolling for info and found a pretty cool report: https://nces.ed.gov/pubs93/93442.pdf

A lot to consume. Its is dated but the past info stays pertinent.

The above blurb gives us a historic reference in regards to a “department of education”. I dont think the department of education in 1867 is what we have today.

In 2025 the DOE website offers this: The mission of the Department of Education (ED) is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access for students of all ages. Learn more about our mission, offices within ED, key initiatives, and more. https://www.ed.gov/about#:~:text=The%20mission%20of%20the%20Department,%2C%20key%20initiatives%2C%20and%20more.

So, in 2025…(from wikipedia) The United States Department of Education is a cabinet-level department of the United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services by the Department of Education Organization Act, which President Jimmy Carter signed into law on October 17, 1979.[3][4] An earlier iteration was formed in 1867 but was quickly demoted to the Office of Education a year later.[5]

Ok, ok… what does the DOE do, and what does it cost?

More from Wiki… The Department of Education is administered by the United States secretary of education. In 2021 it had more than 4,000 employees – the smallest staff of the Cabinet agencies[6] – and a 2024 budget of $268 billion, up from $14 billion when it was established in 1979. In 2025, the department’s budget was about four percent of the total US federal spending.[7]

I found this… https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics
* Public education spending in the United States falls short of global benchmarks and lags behind economic growth; K-12 schools spend $857.2 billion total ($17,277 per pupil) annually.
* Federal, state, and local governments provide $878.2 billion or $17,700 per pupil to fund K-12 public education.
* The difference between spending and funding is $21.0 billion or $423 per pupil.
* The federal government provides 13.6% of funding for public K-12 education.
* Public postsecondary schools spend an average of $30,228 per pupil.

Hmmm… 17k per annum per student… Sounds like a lot… But Wiki tells us: In 2023, 28% of adults scored at or below Level 1, 29% at Level 2, and 44% at Level 3 or above.[1] Adults scoring in the lowest levels of literacy increased 9 percentage points between 2017 and 2023. In 2017, 19% of U.S. adults achieved a Level 1 or below in literacy while 48% achieved the highest levels.[2] Anything below Level 3 is considered “partially illiterate” (see also § Definitions below).[3] Adults scoring below Level 1 can comprehend simple sentences and short paragraphs with minimal structure but will struggle with multi-step instructions or complex sentences, while those at Level 1 can locate explicitly cued information in short texts, lists, or simple digital pages with minimal distractions but will struggle with multi-page texts and complex prose.[4] In general, both groups struggle reading complex sentences, texts requiring multiple-step processing, and texts with distractions.[4]

“28% of adults scored at or below Level 1, 29% at Level 2“…

“Anything below Level 3 is considered “partially illiterate”…

Over half the population of the USA is “partially illiterate”.

Damn!

878Billion$$s for less than 50% illiteracy… Damn!

I go back to where I started this… I wonder why fiscal management in the public venue is such a bad idea. I wonder why raising the standard of the education system(s) is such a bad idea.

I see and hear soooo many people righteously pound their chests, bang their keyboards with an outrage that foolishly says “don’t mess with the Dep of Ed, we’re doing just fine”… No, we’re not doing fine. We are paying more for less. We have allowed entrenched systems to become fouled, deformed.

Its no longer education if only 50% of the those processing through the system are functionally illiterate.

And the beat goes on, as the rain fall, as the river rises… My hand is healing nicely…

More later