Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Monday called for reducing the role of the federal Department of Education.
“As they debate No Child Left Behind reauthorization, I hope they will block grant a lot of the funding,” Jindal said at a forum on school choice hosted by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. “I hope they will reduce the role of the Department of Education. The Department of Education should really be involved in civil rights, it should be involved in transparency and deregulation, and that’s about it. Everything else should be done at the state and local level.”
The Louisiana Republican is widely expected to run for president in 2016 and released an education plan Monday through his national policy non-profit, America Next.
Jindal also highlighted the importance of portable funding, also known as “backpack funding” because it follows the child.
“The most important thing, it’s not real complicated, is you let the dollars follow the child instead of making the dollars follow the child.” Jindal went on to say that portable funding can be an important factor in ensuring plenty of course options for students. “Not only do we want the dollars to follow the child … it also involves unpacking those dollars so they’re divisible as well.” This would allow students to use education funding for courses provided online, by technical or community colleges, by employers, or other sources.
“The circumstances of a child’s birth shouldn’t determine their outcomes as an adult,” Jindal said.
