U.S. Rep. John Kline (R-MN), fresh from re-election to a fifth term and about to be part of the new Republican majority in the House, said this morning that there are 60 federal education programs that could be cut or combined.
In an interview on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) with Cathy Wurzer, Kline didn’t list the unnecessary programs — there wasn’t time — but said Democratic leaders agree with him that many could be scaled back. And he said the No Child Left Behind law needs major work.
Kline’s views on education are significant — he’s expected to chair the House Education and Labor Committee in the new Congress.
Unlike some other Republicans, he doesn’t agree that the Education Department has to go, but said:
“It’s worth looking at the department to see what it’s doing and understand what the role is and should be. In my judgment, it is clearly less than it has grown to be.”
MPR’s Elizabeth Dunbar summarizes the nine-minute interview here.
A version of this post, by Joe Kimball of MinnPost, was published on MinnPost.com on November 18, 2010.
