re: #376 sattv4u2

Prior to 1980, Education was wrapped in the Health Education and Welfare Cabinet level position. HEW was split in Health and Human Services and ED.

ED primarily serves to collect education data and disburse block grants. That power has expanded under NCLB, but the ultimate education responsibilities are at the state and local level.

Moreover, most education funding comes from state and local taxes - property taxes in many places, supplemented by personal income tax.

In NJ, property taxes largely fund education budgets and the personal income tax was instituted to provide property tax relief. It’s ballooned to the point where NJ taxpayers have some of the highest tax burdens in the nation and property tax relief is a joke since it has frequently meant increasing other taxes to fund tax “relief” programs.