If an investment yields stagnant or negative returns despite increased funding, the rational thing to do is back off. This logic rarely applies in government, but we're in a unique moment. The U.S. Department of Education—which has long exemplified the sunk-cost fallacy with past investments motivating continued spending—faces possible closure as President Donald Trump's administration pushes to devolve education back to the states.
First, let's be clear: The department traditionally funds only 8 percent to 10 percent of K-12 education, and new Secretary of Education Linda McMahon seems rightly concerned that not enough of that money goes toward actual instruction. The Trump administration first moved to cut half of the department's bureaucratic jobs and may now attempt to eliminate it altogether. Officials also pledge to maintain the "services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely" while key funding is brought "closer to states, localities, and more importantly, students."
Doing more with less may be possible. Here's why.
