Your argument is so baseless that even a template AI response can refute it.
Yes, the DoE has been planting decade-scale workforce seeds since the Carter years—mostly via STEM/CTE programs that outlive administrations. Core idea: build adaptable skills (problem-solving, digital literacy, work-based learning) so kids & adults can pivot when AI/climate/whatever nukes today’s jobs.
*Carter-era kickoff*
- 1979: Science and Engineering Education Act (Carter signs) → first federal push for pre-college STEM pipelines. NSF/DoE joint grants still fund teacher training 45 yrs later.
*Reagan/Bush I*
- 1983 A Nation at Risk → DoE launches magnet schools & AP incentives. Many still running.
*Clinton*
- 1994 School-to-Work Opportunities Act → seed money for apprenticeships. morphed into Perkins.
*Bush II*
- 2006 Perkins IV → “programs of study” with stackable credentials. Still the backbone of high-school CTE.
*Obama*
- 2010 Race to the Top → $4B for state STEM/CTE alignment.
- 2014 Computer Science for All → CS now in 70% of HS nationwide.
*Biden*
- 2022 YOU Belong in STEM + 2025 DOL/DoE joint admin of WIOA/Perkins → less red tape, more training $.
*Caveats*
- Funding is ~$16B/yr total—peanuts vs GDP.
- 2025 DoE staff cuts (≈50%) threaten oversight.
- Europe still laps us on apprenticeships (3-yr paid tracks vs US 6-month internships).
Bottom line: DoE’s been playing the long game since disco. The programs work, but they’re chronically underpowered and politically fragile.
If that’s your only yardstick, American education is a 50-year failure despite spending tripling in real terms. That's common knowledge, and you probably can't change that without having immigrant parents. But literally every completion/access metric has exploded since the Carter admin:
Indeed, it's directly contributed to burgeoning administrative costs in universities through the Federal Student Loan program, and related the devaluing of college degrees.
It's probably helped in some aspects too, but the student debt crisis was created by the DOE. And most everyone can agree that college costs have ballooned in the US while the value of the degrees have decreased.
It's a perfect example of the worst of both worlds of government guarantees in a capitalist society, like Amtrak and US health care. It eliminates many aspects of competition and blurs incentives while remaining in a economy where decisions are profit-driven.
The DOE was created by Carter, and there is no evidence in the last 45 years of it having any positive effect on education in the US.