I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5394 

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

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 1, 2014 

Mr. BROUN of Georgia 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 ‘‘Department of Edu5 cation Elimination Act of 2014’’. 

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 salary for public school 


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1 teachers is around $56,000, the average salary for 

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

3 (8) Recent tests reflect poor results in mathe4 matics, science, and reading for American students 

5 compared with students from other nations. 

6 (9) Only through initiatives led by parents and 

7 local communities with the power to act can the 

8 United States elevate educational performance to9 ward an acceptable level. 

10 (10) The current system of top down education 

11 uniformity is detrimental to local businesses and 

12 communities, the economic needs of the states, and 

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

14 (11) The Department of Education has been 

15 hostile to many promising reform ideas or empow16 ering parents, teachers, and local communities. The 

17 United States, once a laboratory of innovation 

18 through the experiments of the States, is moving to19 ward education standardization that does not con20 sider the individual educational needs of our diverse 

21 population of students. 

22 SEC. 3. ABOLITION OF DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. 

23 The Department of Education is abolished, and, with 

24 the exception of the programs transferred under section 

25 7, any program for which the Secretary of Education or 


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1 the Department of Education has administrative responsi2 bility as provided by law or by delegation of authority pur3 suant to law is repealed, including each program under 

4 the following: 

5 (1) The Department of Education Organization 

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

7 (2) The General Education Provisions Act (20 

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

9 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATES FOR ELEMENTARY AND SEC10 ONDARY AND FOR POSTSECONDARY EDU11 CATION PROGRAMS. 

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

13 this title, each State is entitled to receive from the Sec14 retary of the Treasury, by not later than July 1 of the 

15 preceding fiscal year— 

16 (1) a grant for fiscal year 2015 and each suc17 ceeding fiscal year through fiscal year 2024, that is 

18 equal to the amount of funds appropriated for the 

19 State for Federal elementary school and secondary 

20 school programs for fiscal year 2012 (except for the 

21 funds appropriated for fiscal year 2012 for such pro22 grams for such State that are being transferred 

23 under section 7); and 

24 (2) a grant for fiscal year 2015 and each suc25 ceeding fiscal year through fiscal year 2024, that is 


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1 equal to the amount of funds appropriated for the 

2 State for Federal postsecondary education programs 

3 for fiscal year 2012 (except for the funds appro4 priated for fiscal year 2012 for such programs for 

5 such State that are being transferred under section 

6 7). 

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

8 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, 

9 there are appropriated for fiscal years 2015 through 2024, 

10 such sums as are necessary for grants under subsection 

11 (a). 

12 (c) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO INTERGOVERN13 MENTAL FINANCING.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

14 shall make the transfer of funds under grants under sub15 section (a) directly to each State in accordance with the 

16 requirements of section 6503 of title 31, United States 

17 Code. 

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

19 a State under this section for any fiscal year shall be ex20 pended by the State in such fiscal year or in the suc21 ceeding fiscal year. 

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

23 State— 


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

2 the State for any elementary or secondary education 

3 purpose permitted by State law; and 

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

5 the State for any postsecondary education purpose 

6 permitted by State law. 

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

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

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

10 be made available from non-Federal sources for elemen11 tary school and secondary school programs or postsec12 ondary education programs, and not to supplant those 

13 funds. 

14 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE AND FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY. 

15 (a) AUDITS.— 

16 (1) CONTRACT WITH APPROVED AUDITING EN17 TITY.—Not later than October 1, 2015, and annu18 ally thereafter, a State shall contract with an ap19 proved auditing entity (as defined under paragraph 

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

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

22 September 30 of such year). 

23 (2) AUDIT REQUIREMENT.—Under a contract 

24 under paragraph (1), an approved auditing entity 

25 shall conduct an audit of the expenditures or transVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:00 Aug 16, 2014 Jkt 039060 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5394.IH H5394

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1 fers made by a State from amounts received under 

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

3 year which such audit covers, to determine the ex4 tent to which such expenditures and transfers were 

5 expended in accordance with section 4. 

6 (3) ENTITY CONDUCTING AUDIT.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a 

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

9 conducted by an approved auditing entity in ac10 cordance with generally accepted auditing prin11 ciples. 

12 (B) APPROVED AUDITING ENTITY.—For 

13 purposes of this section, the term ‘‘approved 

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

15 an entity that is— 

16 (i) approved by the Secretary of the 

17 Treasury; 

18 (ii) approved by the chief executive of19 ficer of the State; and 

20 (iii) independent of any Federal, 

21 State, or local agency. 

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

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

24 shall submit the results of the audit under para25 graph (2) (with respect to the fiscal year ending on 


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1 September 30 of such year) to the State legislature 

2 and to the Secretary of the Treasury. 

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

4 audit conducted under subsection (a), an approved audit5 ing entity finds that a State violated the requirements of 

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

7 the Treasury of the United States 100 percent of the 

8 amount of State funds that were used in violation of sec9 tion 4 as a penalty. Insofar as a State fails to pay any 

10 such penalty, the Secretary of the Treasury shall offset 

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

12 otherwise payable to the State under this Act. 

13 (c) ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

15 2016, and annually thereafter, each State shall sub16 mit to the Secretary of the Treasury and the State 

17 legislature a report on the activities carried out by 

18 the State during the most recently completed fiscal 

19 year with funds received by the State under a grant 

20 under section 4 for such fiscal year. 

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

22 shall, with respect to a fiscal year— 

23 (A) contain the results of the audit con24 ducted by an approved auditing entity for a 

25 State for such fiscal year, in accordance with 


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1 the requirements of subsection (a) of this sec2 tion; 

3 (B) specify the amount of the grant made 

4 to the State under section 4; and 

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

6 information as the State determines is nec7 essary to provide— 

8 (i) an accurate description of the ac9 tivities conducted by the State for the pur10 pose described under section 4; and 

11 (ii) a complete record of the purposes 

12 for which amounts were expended in ac13 cordance with this section. 

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

15 copies of the reports required under this section 

16 available on a public Web site and shall make copies 

17 available in other formats upon request. 

18 (d) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH REQUIREMENTS.— 

19 The Secretary of the Treasury shall not make any pay20 ment to a State under a grant authorized by section 4— 

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

22 required under subsection (a), during the period be23 tween the date such audit is due and the date on 

24 which such audit is submitted; 


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1 (2) if a State fails to submit a report as re2 quired under subsection (c), during the period be3 tween the date such report is due and the date on 

4 which such report is submitted; or 

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

6 4, during the period beginning on the date the Sec7 retary becomes aware of such violation and the date 

8 on which such violation is corrected by the State. 

9 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPERVISION AND OVER10 SIGHT.— 

11 (1) LIMITED ROLE FOR SECRETARY OF TREAS12 URY AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

13 (A) TREASURY.—The authority of the Sec14 retary of the Treasury under this Act is limited 

15 to— 

16 (i) promulgating regulations, issuing 

17 rules, or publishing guidance documents to 

18 the extent necessary for purposes of imple19 menting subsection (a)(3)(B), subsection 

20 (b), and subsection (d); 

21 (ii) making payments to the States 

22 under grants under section 4; 

23 (iii) approving entities under sub24 section (a)(3)(B) for purposes of the audits 

25 required under subsection (a); 


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1 (iv) withholding payment to a State of 

2 a grant under subsection (d) or offsetting 

3 a payment of such a grant to a State 

4 under subsection (b); and 

5 (v) exercising the authority relating to 

6 nondiscrimination that is specified in sec7 tion 6(b). 

8 (B) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The authority 

9 of the Attorney General to supervise the 

10 amounts received by a State under section 4 is 

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

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

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

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

15 criminal penalties under State law against any individual 

16 or entity that misuses, or engages in fraud or abuse re17 lated to, the funds provided to a State under section 4. 

18 SEC. 6. NONDISCRIMINATION PROVISIONS. 

19 (a) NO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST INDIVIDUALS.— 

20 No individual shall be excluded from participation in, de21 nied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under, 

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

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

24 such individual’s— 


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1 (1) disability under section 504 of the Rehabili2 tation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); 

3 (2) sex under title IX of the Education Amend4 ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.); or 

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

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

7 et seq.). 

8 (b) COMPLIANCE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Attorney General de10 termines that a State or an entity that has received 

11 funds from amounts paid to a State under a grant 

12 under section 4 has failed to comply with a provision 

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

14 the Treasury shall notify the chief executive officer 

15 of the State of such failure to comply and shall re16 quest that such chief executive officer secure such 

17 compliance. 

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

19 after receiving notification under paragraph (1), the 

20 chief executive officer of a State fails or refuses to 

21 secure compliance with the provision of law referred 

22 to in such notification, the Attorney General may— 

23 (A) institute an appropriate civil action; or 

24 (B) exercise the powers and functions pro25 vided under section 505 of the Rehabilitation 


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

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

3 1681 et seq.), or title VI of the Civil Rights Act 

4 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) (as applica5 ble). 

6 SEC. 7. TRANSFER OF CERTAIN DEPARTMENT OF EDU7 CATION PROGRAMS. 

8 Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act— 

10 (1) each job training program under the juris11 diction of the Department of Education, including 

12 the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education 

13 Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.) shall be trans14 ferred to the Department of Labor; 

15 (2) each special education grant program under 

16 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

17 U.S.C. 1460 et seq.) shall be transferred to the De18 partment of Health and Human Services; 

19 (3) each Indian Education program under the 

20 jurisdiction of the Department of Education shall be 

21 transferred to the Department of the Interior; 

22 (4) each Impact Aid program under title VIII 

23 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

24 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.) shall be transferred 

25 to the Department of Defense; and 


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1 (5) the Federal Pell Grant program under sub2 part 1 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education 

3 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a), which shall be 

4 capped at $18,000,000,000 per fiscal year, and the 

5 Federal student loan programs under parts B and D 

6 of title IV of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.; 20 

7 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.) shall be transferred to the De8 partment of Health and Human Services. 

9 SEC. 8. GAO REPORT. 

10 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

11 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

12 shall submit to the Committee on Education and the 

13 Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Com14 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 

15 Senate report, which shall include— 

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

17 of enhancing the ability of States and local commu18 nities to fund education by reducing the Federal tax 

19 burden and commensurately eliminating Federal 

20 Government involvement in providing grants for edu21 cation programs; and 

22 (2) an evaluation of the feasibility of the suc23 cessor Federal agencies for maintaining the pro24 grams to be transferred under section 7. 


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1 SEC. 9. PLAN FOR WINDING UP AFFAIRS. 

2 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, the President shall submit to the Con4 gress a plan for winding up the affairs of the Department 

5 of Education in accordance with this Act. 

6 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; SECONDARY

9 SCHOOL.—The terms ‘‘elementary school’’ and ‘‘sec10 ondary school’’ have the meanings given the terms 

11 in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

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

13 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

15 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Ele16 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

17 U.S.C. 1002). 

18 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean19 ing given the term in section 103 of the Higher 

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

Æ 


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