The Federal Bureaucracy

What kind of red tape applies to education changes?

The red tape that the employees in the education system have to go through is said to be endless miles of red tape. They must comply with mandates, many of which are unfunded. Here is an example from an article written by David Kirkpatrick, “A school superintendent in suburban Philadelphia once said he had to comply with 1,027 mandates, 70 percent of which were unfunded. Ohio Governor, now U.S. Senator, George Voinovich estimated Ohio school administrators spent 50 percent of their time filling out federal forms, which accounted for only 6 percent of education funding there. Arizona’s chief school officer, Lisa Graham Keegan, said it took 165 of her staff, 45 percent of the total, to manage federal programs that comprised only 6 percent of her budget. The USDoE has estimated its requirements impose 48.6 million hours of paperwork, the equivalent of 25,000 full-time employees.”

How many education employees are there at the federal and local levels?


Education has many employees both at the state and federal levels. One of the top most federal branches in the education system is the national department of education. At the state level, there are teachers, principals, superintendents. Any employee or staff member that works in the school district is an employee of the educational system.

What is the independent regulatory commission for education?

This agency allows for the education system to propose revisions and changes that need to be made in the education system. There are many documents that show the proposed regulations. One of the many useful websites to sto study these materials is http://www.irrc.state.pa.us/