A Fistful of Dollars: Obama and the Department of Education

Article here. Excerpt:

'The badly misnamed "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" appropriates roughly $150 billion for "education" purposes, more than double the current budget for the Department of Education. But the little-known truth is that the Department of Education's own supervisory body has identified 47 programs that should be eliminated, at a savings of $3.3 billion a year to taxpayers. The Women's Educational Equity, for instance, exists to support "educational equity for girls and women," but even the Department states, "There is no longer a need for a program focused on eliminating the educational gap for girls and women, as women have made educational gains that match or exceed those of their male peers." Still, the program remains. Moreover, the Office of Management of Budget singled out 758 congressional earmarks totaling $330 million in the Department of Education's 2008 budget alone.'