To be fair, at least 25 of the 70 is federal discretionary Pell Grants. Out of the remaining 45, 12 is funneled to the states for special education and another 16 is sent to the states for disadvantaged schools. It's all well an good to say there's a lot of fat there, but of the budget goes straight out the door to the states or Pell Grant recipients.
That is the kind of detail I wasn't aware of.
So, based on the numbers you just gave, is the $17+ billion that is being spent at the Dept of Education (setting aside what is being just redistributed to the states) delivering any net benefit?
I realize that is a hard question and don't expect to get to a good answer on a message board. I also realize that $17 billion is a lot of money, but isn't #### compared to the Federal budget. And that's the problem. But true proponents of smaller and
better Federal government would ask these questions about every department and line item. Of course none of those exist in this race, on either side.