In January, Rep. Virginia Foxx will pass the chairman’s gavel of the House Education and Workforce Committee to her successor. Foxx, a former community college instructor, college professor, and college president, has represented North Carolina’s 5th District in Congress since 2005. Given that Foxx’s tenure as the committee’s ranking Republican spanned the pandemic, a historic expansion of school choice, heated culture clashes, and campus chaos, I was especially curious to hear her thoughts regarding accomplishments, frustrations, and takeaways. Here’s what she had to say.
—Rick
Editor’s note: This post has been lightly edited for clarity. The opinions expressed here are those of U.S. Rep. Virginia B. Foxx.
Rick: What would you regard as the most significant accomplishments of your tenure?
Foxx: At the start of this Congress, I said, “You can’t have good governance without good oversight. And I intend to have both.” Following through on that mission, we have sent hundreds of oversight letters since the start of the 118th Congress. Our work helped expose the flawed management of COVID spending that created an environment conducive to fraud, waste, and abuse. The committee’s oversight work also uncovered that cost estimates for the Biden administration’s student-debt scheme were unverifiable and not grounded in reality. As elected representatives, it is our duty to hold the federal government to the highest standard of accountability so that tax dollars are used effectively and efficiently.
Rick: You mentioned COVID spending. In retrospect, what’s your take on the federal pandemic response to K–12 schooling? Did Washington do enough? Was the money well spent?
Foxx: After Republicans and Democrats in Congress allocated $70 billion in K–12 relief funds in 2020, Democrats insisted on spending another $120 billion of taxpayer funds on schools under the American Rescue Plan. Sending 300 percent more funding to K–12 schools than what is typically allocated by the Department of Education without instituting strong transparency and accountability measures is reckless. Money is not a cure-all, and it is irresponsible to throw more money at a problem and call it a solution. Let’s not forget that per-pupil education spending has increased significantly over the years, but high school seniors aren’t performing any better than they were 30 years ago.
Rick: What have you found most frustrating about your time on the committee?
Foxx: I really disagree with this outdated notion that everyone needs a baccalaureate degree to be successful in this country. It was pervasive and very frustrating when I first got to Washington. However, I think people are waking up to the fact that America is returning to a skills-based economy and that not everyone needs to go to a traditional college or university. It’s a battle I’ve fought for a long time. I think we are finally beginning to see the fruits of this new way of thinking as skills-based legislation, such as the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act and the A Stronger Workforce for America Act, attracts more and more support.
Rick: You’ve long been a champion of school choice. Can you say a bit about your efforts on that front and what role you see for Congress going forward?
Foxx: I grew up poor. My parents didn’t have much, but they were extremely hard workers. I knew that the only way to get out of poverty was through education. This is why I fight tooth and nail to support school choice legislation, because educational choice is powerful—with it, students can be successful not just in the classroom but in the years after. Efforts to give students more choices are mostly happening at the state level, and one of the most promising pieces of federal legislation is outside my committee’s jurisdiction. Regardless of the source of the policies, I support all forms of school choice. To my mind, state governors and legislatures leading the mass adoption of school choice policies is one of the most positive educational developments in recent memory.
Rick: As a former educator yourself, what do you think educators may not realize about federal education policy?
Foxx: I don’t know if educators fully grasp the degree to which teachers’ unions involve themselves politically. Teachers’ unions are the education arm of the Democrat Party. Nearly 100 percent of their political donations go to Democrat politicians. Teachers’ unions have a huge influence over Democrat federal policy, too. The good news is that educators who are skeptical of the direction Democrat politicians have set for American schools can leave their unions without penalty.
Rick: Last year, the House passed your committee’s Parents Bill of Rights Act amid substantial pushback. Why did you support that legislation, and what do you think the critics got wrong?
Foxx: The Parents Bill of Rights Act rests on the principle that parents should always have a seat at the table when it comes to their children’s education. In recent years, I saw parents get left in the dark frequently and wanted to do something about it. Of course, any time you call for more accountability in public education—as this bill did—you get pushback from the Democrats and the teachers’ unions. I chalk up the criticisms to a fundamental disagreement. One of the Democrats even offered an amendment to rename the whole bill to say we were banning books, when the bill simply provides parents with a list of reading materials available in the library.
Rick: From your perspective, what were the key elements in that bill?
Foxx: When parents are involved in their child’s education, students thrive. That is the guiding principle of this bill. Specifically, the bill reaffirms five rights for parents: to know what schools are teaching, to protect their child’s privacy, to be heard, to see the school budget and spending, and to be updated on any violent activity at school.
Rick: You’ve criticized colleges and schools for failing to adequately address antisemitism in the wake of the October 7 attack against Israel. Can you say more about what you’ve seen and whether you think the situation has improved?
Foxx: The committee released a very damning report in October that details the behind-the-scenes decisionmaking at universities across America during the fallout from October 7. Board meeting minutes, private messages, transcribed interviews, and more show that nobody was taking this seriously. First and foremost, they saw it as a public relations crisis. So, no, my confidence that postsecondary education can competently address antisemitism has not improved.
Rick: Your committee held influential hearings on all of this. I’m curious if that experience taught you anything about Congress’ ability to hold publicly subsidized colleges and public schools accountable?
Foxx: I think the hearings substantiated what we already knew: Sunshine is the best disinfectant. Officials shy from oversight and accountability instead of treating it as their sacred duty to answer to elected representatives. When we push for answers, parents are no longer left in the dark, lawmakers are better informed when it comes time to consider legislation, and American taxpayers see where their hard-earned money is going.
Rick: Your committee passed the College Cost Reduction Act earlier this year. For readers who aren’t versed in the details, can you say a bit about what it would do?
Foxx: The College Cost Reduction Act would lower the cost of postsecondary education for students and families. Among other reforms, the bill provides a permanent fix to our broken student-loan system by simplifying loan and repayment options and offering targeted relief to borrowers who need it, rather than illegal debt-transfer schemes. Most importantly, it addresses the root cause of the student-loan disaster by making colleges cover some of the losses when their graduates fail to repay their loans—in other words, requiring schools to have “skin in the game.” The act would punish universities that are handing out worthless degrees and reward institutions that offer high-value credentials at an affordable price. We’re shifting the university’s financial incentives toward ensuring students get a better return on their investment.
Rick: How would you rate the performance of Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and the Biden Department of Education?
Foxx: He’s quietly put together one of the worst—if not the single worst—tenures for a secretary of education since the creation of the role. History will remember Secretary Cardona for one main policy failure: student loans. At every turn, whether it be mass student-loan bailouts or the failed FAFSA rollout, his administration dropped the ball. In the case of so-called student-debt cancellation, his proposed regulations are the costliest in U.S. history. Meanwhile, as you’ve noted yourself, Cardona has tried to hamstring charter schools by slashing their funding and proposing burdensome regulations. He’s politicized the release of the NAEP scores—usually a nonpartisan exercise—by blaming Republican officials for supposedly “banning history books.” And he gave teachers’ unions extraordinary influence to shape school reopening post-COVID, which resulted in extended school closures and more learning loss.
Rick: What advice would you offer President-elect Donald Trump on how best to tackle education this term?
Foxx: Education should be predominantly handled at the state and local level, which is why I encourage the Trump administration to work with Congress to devolve the Education Department’s responsibilities to the states via legislation. There is massive bureaucracy at the Education Department, and it’s not serving students well. Just last month, we learned that the department failed its audit for the third year in a row. Clearly, the status quo is not working. Programs that aren’t delivering on the outcomes they promised should be seriously evaluated.
Rick: One final question. What advice would you give to your successor?
Foxx: While leading the committee can sometimes be frustrating and often messy, you can’t pick more rewarding work than looking out for the interests of students and workers—“work” being the operative word! Our current education system is not producing enough students who can think for themselves. Americans want an education system that makes independent thought a priority and teaches students how to think rather than what to think. So my successor will be stepping into the role with some favorable headwinds for crafting education and workforce policy.
