Confine the federal role to gathering statistics
What the document says“The federal government should confine its involvement in education policy to that of a statistics-gathering agency that disseminates information to the states.”
The chapter says the complexity of federal education programs has contributed to bureaucratic bloat in state and local districts, and that streamlining funding into straightforward per-pupil allocations or unrestricted grants would ease the compliance burden.
What the document actually says“The federal government should confine its involvement in education policy to that of a statistics-gathering agency that disseminates information to the states.”
Washington should only collect numbers about schools. Then it should share them with the states.
The book says Washington should stop setting school rules. It should only gather facts and figures. Then it would pass them to the states.
Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities
2025-03-20 · 90 FR 13679
Executive Order 14242 directs the Secretary of Education to take all necessary steps, to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the states and local communities, and states that the department's main functions can and should be returned to the states. That is the withdrawal of the federal role the proposal describes. It stops short in both directions. The order says nothing about what federal function would remain, and does not mention statistics, the National Center for Education Statistics or the dissemination of information to the states, which is the role the chapter would keep. Its section 2(b) keeps conditions on the allocation of department funds, which is a continuing federal policy role. And closing the department takes an act of Congress, so the order directs steps toward closure rather than accomplishing it.
The order tells the secretary to work toward closing the school department. The chapter wanted one job kept: gathering numbers and sharing them with the states. The order does not name that job at all. It also keeps strings on its money, and cannot close the department by itself.