Education performance in the United Sates has fallen from #1 in the world in 1973 to #17 in 2013. Middle of the pack in science, math & reading in 2015. During that timeframe we added the DOE, lowered standards, lowered grading scales and spent trillions of dollars, only to see results dramatically decline against the rest of the world. The left wants more money spent to solve the problem. The right wants the DOE eliminated and local control restored. State Rankings by Size & Money. State Rankings Best & Worst. State Funding per Student. Textbooks are also a political battleground. Tax dollars are being used to buy textbooks that make claims like: 1. Christopher Columbus ordered the 'complete genocide' of Native Americans. 2. Members of the Boston Tea Party were 'terrorists'. 3. Lee Harvey Oswald shot President John F Kennedy because he was a 'deeply disturbed Marine'; not because he was a committed Marxist. 4. During Ronald Reagan presidency the 'poor got poorer', inferring that his policies were targeted to such a result. Where is the truth? See the debate in this section.