WELCOME BACK, JIM CROW: WE MISSED YOU SO MUCH WE NAMED A WAIVER AFTER YOU (SORT OF)
Congratulations, America! We've done it. After decades of tiresome "equity," exhausting "civil rights protections," and the absolute drudgery of ensuring all children—regardless of zip code, skin color, or bank account—receive a quality education, we're finally going back to the good old days. You know, the ones before that pesky Brown v. Board of Education ruined everything in 1954.
Thanks to the shiny new "Returning Education to Our States Act" and its inaugural guinea pig—sorry, I mean "test case"—Iowa, we're about to find out what happens when you hand the keys to federal education funding back to the states with a cheerful "good luck!" and a pat on the back. Spoiler alert: We've seen this movie before, and it doesn't end with Morgan Freeman narrating an uplifting montage.
Iowa: The Chosen One (Or the Canary in the Coal Mine)
Iowa just became the first state to receive a federal education waiver that lets it consolidate federal funds into a lovely, flexible block grant. No more pesky "strings attached." No more federal busybodies asking annoying questions like, "Are you actually spending this money on the kids who need it most?" or "Can you prove you're not just using federal dollars to replace state funding you cut last year?"
Nope! Iowa gets to take Title I, Title II, Title III, and Title IV funds—money specifically designed to help low-income students, English learners, and kids with disabilities—and basically do whatever it wants with them. It's like giving your teenager the grocery money and saying, "I trust you'll buy vegetables and not just Mountain Dew and Takis."
State officials estimate they'll save $8 million over four years by cutting "red tape." Translation: They're eliminating the paperwork that ensures vulnerable kids aren't left behind. But hey, think of all the time teachers will save not having to document that they're actually, you know, teaching those kids.
The Greatest Hits: Why This Is a Terrible Idea
Let's take a stroll down memory lane, shall we? Before the federal government got involved in education, states had total control. And how did that work out?
1. Segregation Was the Official Policy
Remember when states decided that Black children and white children should attend separate schools? And that those separate schools were definitely, totally, 100% "equal"? (Narrator: They were not equal.) It took the Supreme Court, federal troops, and the National Guard to force states to integrate schools. But sure, let's trust states to protect civil rights now. What could go wrong?
2. Funding Disparities Were (and Are) Astronomical
Even today, with federal oversight, school funding is wildly unequal. Wealthy districts spend thousands more per student than poor districts. Now imagine removing the federal "maintenance of effort" requirement—the rule that says states can't just pocket federal money and cut their own education budgets. Spoiler: States will absolutely do that. It's like removing the speed limit and expecting everyone to drive slower.
3. "Portability" = Vouchers in Disguise
One of the crown jewels of this plan is "Title I Portability," which means federal money will "follow the child" to whatever school they choose—including private and charter schools. Sounds great, right? School choice! Freedom!
Except here's the thing: When you drain money from public schools and funnel it into private and charter schools (many of which are unregulated and have zero accountability), you're not "empowering parents." You're defunding the schools that serve 90% of American children. It's like burning down the public library to give everyone a Barnes & Noble gift card.
The Civil Rights Rollback You Didn't Know You Were Getting
Here's the part that should terrify you: Under this plan, civil rights enforcement moves from the Department of Education to the Department of Justice. Why does that matter?
Because right now, if your kid with a disability isn't getting the services they're legally entitled to, or if your school is discriminating against English learners, you can file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education. They investigate. They enforce the law.
But the DOJ? They're busy with, you know, crimes. They don't have the staff, the expertise, or frankly the bandwidth to handle thousands of education discrimination complaints. So what happens to those kids? They fall through the cracks. They get left behind. But at least we saved some money on "bureaucracy," right?
The Block Grant Bait-and-Switch
Let's talk about what "block grants" actually mean. In theory, they sound great: "Let's give states a lump sum of money and trust them to spend it wisely!"
In practice, here's what happens:
- States replace their own funding. Instead of adding federal money to their education budgets, states use it to replace state money they would have spent anyway. Net result: No increase in education funding. The feds just subsidized a state tax cut.
- Accountability vanishes. Without federal reporting requirements, there's no way to track whether money is actually reaching the kids it's supposed to help. Did that Title I money go to low-income schools, or did it fund a new football stadium in the suburbs? Who knows! It's a mystery!
- The "funding cliff" hits hard. Right now, federal law says districts can't lose more than 5-15% of their funding in a single year. This bill would eliminate that protection. High-poverty districts—the ones that rely most on federal money—could see their budgets slashed overnight.
The Winners and Losers (Hint: It's Exactly Who You Think)
Let's be clear about who benefits from this plan:
Winners:
- Wealthy, growing states like Florida and Texas, which will get more money under a population-based formula (even though they have lower poverty rates).
- Private and charter schools, which will feast on the carcass of public school funding through voucher schemes.
- State politicians, who get to brag about "cutting red tape" and "local control" while quietly defunding public education.
Losers:
- High-poverty states like Mississippi, Louisiana, and New Mexico, which could lose 30-40% of their federal education funding.
- Students with disabilities, English learners, and low-income kids, who will lose the federal protections that ensure they get the services they need.
- Public schools, which will be gutted to fund an unregulated, unaccountable "school choice" free-for-all.
"But It's About Freedom and Flexibility!"
Sure. And the Titanic was about a relaxing cruise.
Look, no one is saying the Department of Education is perfect. Bureaucracy is real. Paperwork is annoying. But you know what's more annoying? Sending your kid to a school that doesn't have textbooks because the state decided to spend federal education money on a corporate tax break.
The federal government's role in education isn't about control—it's about protection. It's about making sure that a kid in rural Mississippi has the same shot at a decent education as a kid in suburban Connecticut. It's about ensuring that schools can't just ignore students with disabilities or English learners because it's inconvenient.
The Bottom Line: We've Been Here Before
Here's the thing about history: It's really, really good at repeating itself when we refuse to learn from it.
Before federal involvement in education, we had:
- Segregated schools
- Massive funding inequities
- No protections for students with disabilities
- No accountability for how education money was spent
And now, with the "Returning Education to Our States Act," we're sprinting back to that exact same system. We're just calling it "innovation" this time.
So welcome back, Jim Crow. We missed you. We missed the days when a child's education depended entirely on the lottery of where they were born and what they looked like. We missed the days when "states' rights" was code for "the right to discriminate." We missed the days when public education was a luxury, not a right.
Iowa is the test case. But if this waiver becomes the model for the rest of the country, we won't just be leaving some kids behind.
We'll be leaving an entire generation behind.
And unlike paperwork, you can't just waive that away.
The Big Education Ape is blogger who apparently still believes in quaint concepts like "equity" and "civil rights." Find me here or on Bluesky: coopmike48 @coopmike48.bsky.social or X: coopmike48 (we/us) @coopmike48
Editor's Note: This article contains sarcasm, historical facts, and a deep sense of existential dread about the future of public education. Reader discretion is advised.
FREEBEE: Trump administration gives Iowa education waiver; more states may follow https://wapo.st/49pmPpy
