Bowles and Simpson Go Education Snipping
Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, co-chairs of President Obama’s fiscal commission, have released a first-draft proposal of their recommendations for bringing the federal deficit under control in the decades to come. Here are the three (or four) recommendations that could have the greatest impact on K-12 and higher education (I’ve pulled these from a draft document published by reporters at Talking Points Memo):
1. Save $1.8 billion by eliminating the Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools.According the co-chairs, “…the results hoped for in creation of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools have not been demonstrated.” They also note that children are more likely to experience violence outside of schools and that drug use is higher in other places.
2. Eliminate all earmarks. According to the co-chairs, “There have been significant strides in bringing the system of earmarking under control and into the sunlight. In FY2010, Congress approved more than 9,000 earmarks costing taxpayers at least $16 billion. Earmarks are not competitively bid and are not subject to accountability metrics.”
3. Eliminate administrative fees paid to schools for student aid programs.According to the co-chairs, colleges participating in campus-based aid programs, like Federal Work Study, as well as colleges whose students receive funding from