Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) blasted the Obama administration’s establishment of a new office of state support within the Department of Education.
“What states need is not centralized support for the new policies and procedures dictated by the National School Board, but freedom from Washington and a return of all the most important decisions about how to best educate 50 million students in 100,000 public schools,” Alexander said Tuesday.
Alexander has been critical of Obama’s education policies, such as Race to the Top, saying they put too much control over public education in the hands of the federal government through grants.This month, the Department of Education will launch the office of state support, which is designed to help state agencies administer federal grant programs.
The administration argues this new office will facilitate a dialogue between state and federal officials, but Alexander says it’s more federal bureaucracy getting in the way of educators on the ground.
Alexander serves as ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.