Completing The Job
An editorial in today's NY Times suggests a solution to some of the problems in the Department of Education, especially as to those problems having to do with kowtowing to private lenders.
“It’s not our fault.” That’s what Education Secretary Margaret Spellings seemed to say while testifying before Congress last week about her department’s failure to halt the payoffs, kickbacks and general looting of the public treasury by a lending company that collected nearly $300 million in undeserved subsidies. But that doesn’t track with the federal Higher Education Act, which clearly authorizes the secretary to disqualify from federal programs lenders who employ payoffs, kickbacks and unethical practices like those that have been found to be commonplace in the college lending business.
Angry at the department’s failure to control corruption in the loan program, Congress has taken the unusual step of reiterating the secretary’s powers in the Student Loan Sunshine Act, which passed the House last week. The bill, which deserves to pass the Senate, too, makes it a crime for lenders to offer colleges anything of value in exchange for the right to do business at a given school. It authorizes the secretary of education to fine, suspend or even terminate lenders who violate the new guidelines.
...Congress should think of some way to insulate the oversight office from partisan tampering. It could be moved into the department’s inspector general’s office — or it could be moved out of the department altogether. [Emphasis added]
Why, yes, putting someone other than Mr. Fox in charge of the henhouse is a pretty good idea, and not just for the Department of Education. It's unfortunate that appointees from this White House have nearly all been more interested in furthering their own interests than the interests of the nation, but they have, so taking away some of that misplaced power is a good start.
What also might have helped was some oversight by the Congress the past seven years. While the 110th Congress is at least showing some spine in that capacity (finally), right now it's faced with the task with cleaning up the mess. The real test will come with the next round of nominations sent down from the White House. Will Congress actually probe nominees' backgrounds, experience, and intentions? Or will the nomination hearings once again be nothing more than oratorical exercises for the benefit of the television cameras?
Hopefully, the former, but I am not all that optimistic, at least not yet.
“It’s not our fault.” That’s what Education Secretary Margaret Spellings seemed to say while testifying before Congress last week about her department’s failure to halt the payoffs, kickbacks and general looting of the public treasury by a lending company that collected nearly $300 million in undeserved subsidies. But that doesn’t track with the federal Higher Education Act, which clearly authorizes the secretary to disqualify from federal programs lenders who employ payoffs, kickbacks and unethical practices like those that have been found to be commonplace in the college lending business.
Angry at the department’s failure to control corruption in the loan program, Congress has taken the unusual step of reiterating the secretary’s powers in the Student Loan Sunshine Act, which passed the House last week. The bill, which deserves to pass the Senate, too, makes it a crime for lenders to offer colleges anything of value in exchange for the right to do business at a given school. It authorizes the secretary of education to fine, suspend or even terminate lenders who violate the new guidelines.
...Congress should think of some way to insulate the oversight office from partisan tampering. It could be moved into the department’s inspector general’s office — or it could be moved out of the department altogether. [Emphasis added]
Why, yes, putting someone other than Mr. Fox in charge of the henhouse is a pretty good idea, and not just for the Department of Education. It's unfortunate that appointees from this White House have nearly all been more interested in furthering their own interests than the interests of the nation, but they have, so taking away some of that misplaced power is a good start.
What also might have helped was some oversight by the Congress the past seven years. While the 110th Congress is at least showing some spine in that capacity (finally), right now it's faced with the task with cleaning up the mess. The real test will come with the next round of nominations sent down from the White House. Will Congress actually probe nominees' backgrounds, experience, and intentions? Or will the nomination hearings once again be nothing more than oratorical exercises for the benefit of the television cameras?
Hopefully, the former, but I am not all that optimistic, at least not yet.
Labels: 110th Congress, Education Department, Oversight
posted by Diane at 3:38 AM
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