I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2281 

To provide for the elimination of the Department of Education, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 12, 2015 

Mr. ROUZER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To provide for the elimination of the Department of 

Education, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘States’ Education Rec5 lamation Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Principles of federalism embodied in the 

9 Constitution of the United States entrust authority 

10 over issues of educational policy to the States and 


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1 the people and a Federal Department of Education 

2 is inconsistent with such principles. 

3 (2) Tradition and experience dictate that the 

4 governance and management of schools in the 

5 United States are best performed by parents, teach6 ers, and communities. 

7 (3) The education of the Nation’s students is 

8 suffering under a managerial government. 

9 (4) The Department of Education has weak10 ened the ability of parents to make essential deci11 sions about their children’s education and has un12 dermined the capacity of communities to govern 

13 their schools. 

14 (5) In the 34 years of its existence, the Depart15 ment of Education has grown from a budget of $14 

16 billion to almost $65.7 billion in annual discre17 tionary appropriations administering around 100 

18 programs. Meanwhile, education performance for 17- 

19 year-olds has stagnated since 1971. 

20 (6) The Department of Education has fostered 

21 over-regulation, standardization, bureaucratization, 

22 and litigation in United States education. 

23 (7) The Department of Education expends 

24 large amounts of money on its own maintenance and 

25 overhead. While the average national salary for pubVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 15, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2281.IH H2281

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1 lic school teachers is $56,103 the average salary for 

2 a Department of Education employee is $108,571. 

3 (8) In certain States, the average State salary 

4 for a public school teacher is less than the national 

5 average. In North Carolina, the average salary for a 

6 public school teacher is $45,737. 

7 (9) Recent tests reflect poor results in mathe8 matics, science, and reading for American students 

9 compared with students from other nations. 

10 (10) Only through initiatives led by parents and 

11 local communities with the power to act can the 

12 United States elevate educational performance to13 ward an acceptable level. 

14 (11) The current system of top-down education 

15 uniformity is detrimental to local businesses and 

16 communities, the economic needs of the States, and 

17 the Nation’s ability to compete globally for jobs. 

18 (12) The Department of Education has been 

19 hostile to many promising reforms, including re20 forms that would empower parents, teachers, and 

21 local communities. The United States, once a labora22 tory of innovation through the experiments of the 

23 States, is moving toward education standardization 

24 that does not consider the individual educational 

25 needs of our diverse population of students. 


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1 SEC. 3. ABOLITION OF DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. 

2 The Department of Education is abolished, and, with 

3 the exception of the programs transferred under section 

4 7, any program for which the Secretary of Education or 

5 the Department of Education has administrative responsi6 bility as provided by law or by delegation of authority pur7 suant to law is repealed, including each program under 

8 the following: 

9 (1) The Department of Education Organization 

10 Act (20 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.). 

11 (2) The General Education Provisions Act (20 

12 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.). 

13 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATES FOR ELEMENTARY AND SEC14 ONDARY AND FOR POSTSECONDARY EDU15 CATION PROGRAMS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements of 

17 this Act, each State is entitled to receive from the Sec18 retary of the Treasury, by not later than July 1 of the 

19 preceding fiscal year— 

20 (1) a grant for fiscal year 2016 and each suc21 ceeding fiscal year through fiscal year 2024, that is 

22 equal to the amount of funds appropriated for the 

23 State for Federal elementary school and secondary 

24 school programs for fiscal year 2012 (except for the 

25 funds appropriated for fiscal year 2012 for such proVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 15, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2281.IH H2281

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1 grams for such State that are being transferred 

2 under section 7); and 

3 (2) a grant for fiscal year 2016 and each suc4 ceeding fiscal year through fiscal year 2024, that is 

5 equal to the amount of funds appropriated for the 

6 State for Federal postsecondary education programs 

7 for fiscal year 2012 (except for the funds appro8 priated for fiscal year 2012 for such programs for 

9 such State that are being transferred under section 

10 7). 

11 (b) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any money in the 

12 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, 

13 there are appropriated for fiscal years 2016 through 2024, 

14 such sums as are necessary for grants under subsection 

15 (a). 

16 (c) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO INTERGOVERN17 MENTAL FINANCING.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

18 shall make the transfer of funds under grants under sub19 section (a) directly to each State in accordance with the 

20 requirements of section 6503 of title 31, United States 

21 Code. 

22 (d) EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS.—Amounts received by 

23 a State under this section for any fiscal year shall be ex24 pended by the State in such fiscal year or in the suc25 ceeding fiscal year. 


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1 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds made available to a 

2 State— 

3 (1) under subsection (a)(1), shall be used by 

4 the State for any elementary or secondary education 

5 purpose permitted by State law, including increases 

6 in teacher salaries; and 

7 (2) under subsection (a)(2), shall be used by 

8 the State for any postsecondary education purpose 

9 permitted by State law. 

10 (f) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—A grant received 

11 under subsection (a) shall only be used to supplement the 

12 amount of funds that would, in the absence of such grant, 

13 be made available from non-Federal sources for elemen14 tary school and secondary school programs or postsec15 ondary education programs, and not to supplant those 

16 funds. 

17 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE AND FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY. 

18 (a) AUDITS.— 

19 (1) CONTRACT WITH APPROVED AUDITING EN20 TITY.—Not later than October 1, 2015, and annu21 ally thereafter, a State shall contract with an ap22 proved auditing entity (as defined under paragraph 

23 (3)(B)) for purposes of conducting an audit under 

24 paragraph (2) (with respect to the fiscal year ending 

25 September 30 of such year). 


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1 (2) AUDIT REQUIREMENT.—Under a contract 

2 under paragraph (1), an approved auditing entity 

3 shall conduct an audit of the expenditures or trans4 fers made by a State from amounts received under 

5 a grant under section 4, with respect to the fiscal 

6 year which such audit covers, to determine the ex7 tent to which such expenditures and transfers were 

8 expended in accordance with section 4. 

9 (3) ENTITY CONDUCTING AUDIT.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a 

11 State, the audit under paragraph (2) shall be 

12 conducted by an approved auditing entity in ac13 cordance with generally accepted auditing prin14 ciples. 

15 (B) APPROVED AUDITING ENTITY.—For 

16 purposes of this section, the term ‘‘approved 

17 auditing entity’’ means, with respect to a State, 

18 an entity that is— 

19 (i) approved by the Secretary of the 

20 Treasury; 

21 (ii) approved by the chief executive of22 ficer of the State; and 

23 (iii) independent of any Federal, 

24 State, or local agency. 


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1 (4) SUBMISSION OF AUDIT.—Not later than 

2 April 30, 2016, and annually thereafter, a State 

3 shall submit the results of the audit under para4 graph (2) (with respect to the fiscal year ending on 

5 September 30 of such year) to the State legislature 

6 and to the Secretary of the Treasury. 

7 (b) REIMBURSEMENT AND PENALTY.—If, through an 

8 audit conducted under subsection (a), an approved audit9 ing entity finds that a State violated the requirements of 

10 subsection (d) or (e) of section 4, the State shall pay to 

11 the Treasury of the United States 100 percent of the 

12 amount of State funds that were used in violation of sec13 tion 4 as a penalty. Insofar as a State fails to pay any 

14 such penalty, the Secretary of the Treasury shall offset 

15 the amount not so paid against the amount of any grant 

16 otherwise payable to the State under this Act. 

17 (c) ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 31, 

19 2016, and annually thereafter, each State shall sub20 mit to the Secretary of the Treasury and the State 

21 legislature a report on the activities carried out by 

22 the State during the most recently completed fiscal 

23 year with funds received by the State under a grant 

24 under section 4 for such fiscal year. 


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1 (2) CONTENT.—A report under paragraph (1) 

2 shall, with respect to a fiscal year— 

3 (A) contain the results of the audit con4 ducted by an approved auditing entity for a 

5 State for such fiscal year, in accordance with 

6 the requirements of subsection (a) of this sec7 tion; 

8 (B) specify the amount of the grant made 

9 to the State under section 4; and 

10 (C) be in such form and contain such other 

11 information as the State determines is nec12 essary to provide— 

13 (i) an accurate description of the ac14 tivities conducted by the State for the pur15 pose described under section 4; and 

16 (ii) a complete record of the purposes 

17 for which amounts were expended in ac18 cordance with this section. 

19 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—A State shall make 

20 copies of the reports required under this section 

21 available on a public website and shall make copies 

22 available in other formats upon request. 

23 (d) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 The Secretary of the Treasury shall not make any pay25 ment to a State under a grant authorized by section 4— 


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1 (1) if an audit for a State is not submitted as 

2 required under subsection (a) during the period be3 tween the date such audit is due and the date on 

4 which such audit is submitted; 

5 (2) if a State fails to submit a report as re6 quired under subsection (c) during the period be7 tween the date such report is due and the date on 

8 which such report is submitted; or 

9 (3) if a State violates a requirement of section 

10 4 during the period beginning on the date the Sec11 retary becomes aware of such violation and the date 

12 on which such violation is corrected by the State. 

13 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPERVISION AND OVER14 SIGHT.— 

15 (1) LIMITED ROLE FOR SECRETARY OF THE

16 TREASURY.—The authority of the Secretary of the 

17 Treasury under this Act is limited to— 

18 (A) promulgating regulations, issuing 

19 rules, or publishing guidance documents to the 

20 extent necessary for purposes of implementing 

21 subsection (a)(3)(B), subsection (b), and sub22 section (d); 

23 (B) making payments to the States under 

24 grants under section 4; 


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1 (C) approving entities under subsection 

2 (a)(3)(B) for purposes of the audits required 

3 under subsection (a); 

4 (D) withholding payment to a State of a 

5 grant under subsection (d) or offsetting a pay6 ment of such a grant to a State under sub7 section (b); and 

8 (E) exercising the authority relating to 

9 nondiscrimination that is specified in section 

10 6(b). 

11 (2) LIMITED ROLE FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

12 The authority of the Attorney General to supervise 

13 the amounts received by a State under section 4 is 

14 limited to the authority under section 6(b). 

15 (f) RESERVATION OF STATE POWERS.—Nothing in 

16 this section shall be construed to limit the power of a 

17 State, including the power of a State to pursue civil and 

18 criminal penalties under State law against any individual 

19 or entity that misuses, or engages in fraud or abuse re20 lated to, the funds provided to a State under section 4. 

21 SEC. 6. NONDISCRIMINATION PROVISIONS. 

22 (a) NO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST INDIVIDUALS.— 

23 No individual shall be excluded from participation in, de24 nied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under, 

25 any program or activity funded in whole or in part with 


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1 amounts paid to a State under section 4 on the basis of 

2 such individual’s— 

3 (1) disability under section 504 of the Rehabili4 tation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); 

5 (2) sex under title IX of the Education Amend6 ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.); or 

7 (3) race, color, or national origin under title VI 

8 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d 

9 et seq.). 

10 (b) COMPLIANCE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Attorney General de12 termines that a State or an entity that has received 

13 funds from amounts paid to a State under a grant 

14 under section 4 has failed to comply with a provision 

15 of law referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of 

16 the Treasury shall notify the chief executive officer 

17 of the State of such failure to comply and shall re18 quest that such chief executive officer secure such 

19 compliance. 

20 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—If, not later than 60 days 

21 after receiving notification under paragraph (1), the 

22 chief executive officer of a State fails or refuses to 

23 secure compliance with the provision of law referred 

24 to in such notification, the Attorney General may— 

25 (A) institute an appropriate civil action; or 


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1 (B) exercise the powers and functions pro2 vided under section 505 of the Rehabilitation 

3 Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794a), title IX of the 

4 Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 

5 1681 et seq.), or title VI of the Civil Rights Act 

6 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) (as applica7 ble). 

8 SEC. 7. TRANSFER OF CERTAIN DEPARTMENT OF EDU9 CATION PROGRAMS. 

10 (a) TRANSFER OF CERTAIN PROGRAMS.—Not later 

11 than 24 months after the date of the enactment of this 

12 Act— 

13 (1) each job training program under the juris14 diction of the Department of Education, including 

15 the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education 

16 Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.) shall be trans17 ferred to the Department of Labor; 

18 (2) each special education grant program under 

19 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

20 U.S.C. 1460 et seq.) shall be transferred to the De21 partment of Health and Human Services; 

22 (3) each Indian education program under the 

23 jurisdiction of the Department of Education shall be 

24 transferred to the Department of the Interior; 


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1 (4) each Impact Aid program under title VIII 

2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.) shall be transferred 

4 to the Department of Defense; 

5 (5) the Federal Pell Grant program under title 

6 IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 1070a), shall be transferred to the Department of 

8 the Treasury; 

9 (6) each Federal student loan program under 

10 the jurisdiction of the Department of Education 

11 shall be transferred to the Department of the Treas12 ury; 

13 (7) each program under the jurisdiction of the 

14 Institute of Education Sciences shall be transferred 

15 to the Department of Health and Human Services; 

16 and 

17 (8) each program under the jurisdiction of the 

18 D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program shall be 

19 transferred to the Department of Health and 

20 Human Services. 

21 (b) LIMITATION ON TRANSFER OF CERTAIN PRO22 GRAMS.—The transfer of programs pursuant to subsection 

23 (a) is limited to only the transfer of administrative respon24 sibility as provided by law or the delegation of authority 

25 pursuant to law and does not extend to the transfer of 


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1 personnel employed by the Department of Education to 

2 carry out such programs. 

3 SEC. 8. GAO REPORT. 

4 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

6 States shall submit to the Committee on Education and 

7 the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the 

8 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 

9 the Senate report, which shall include— 

10 (1) a review and evaluation as to the feasibility 

11 of enhancing the ability of States and local commu12 nities to fund education by reducing the Federal tax 

13 burden and commensurately eliminating Federal 

14 Government involvement in providing grants for edu15 cation programs; and 

16 (2) an evaluation of the feasibility of the suc17 cessor Federal agencies for maintaining the pro18 grams to be transferred under section 7. 

19 SEC. 9. PLAN FOR CLOSURE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDU20 CATION. 

21 Not later than 365 days after the date of the enact22 ment of this Act, the President shall submit to the Con23 gress a plan to implement closure of the Department of 

24 Education in accordance with this Act. 


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1 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; SECONDARY

4 SCHOOL.—The terms ‘‘elementary school’’ and ‘‘sec5 ondary school’’ have the meanings given the terms 

6 in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

7 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 9101). 

8 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

9 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

10 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Ele11 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

12 U.S.C. 1002). 

13 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean14 ing given the term in section 103 of the Higher 

15 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003). 

Æ 


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