A veteran education policy analyst who has spent 25 years arguing against wasteful education spending is now questioning the push for education budget cuts as senior citizens consume a disproportionate share of federal resources. Frederick M. Hess of the American Enterprise Institute published his analysis in Education Next on June 9, 2026, arguing that trimming education outlays makes little sense when politicians are borrowing trillions to fund benefits for those over 65.
The federal government spent $7.1 trillion last year, with $4.4 trillion going to benefits for individuals. Of that spending on individual benefits, 62 percent went to those aged 65 and over, mostly for Social Security and health care. For every six dollars spent on seniors, just one dollar went to those under age 26, mostly for Medicaid, food stamps, and education. The U.S. borrowed $1.8 trillion last year and will borrow another $2 trillion this year. Federal debt has quadrupled from $9 trillion in 2007 to $36 trillion in 2025, with debt held by the public now exceeding 100 percent of GDP. Social Security alone accounts for 22 percent of all federal spending, while interest payments, non-Medicare health spending, and Medicare each claim 14 percent. Combined, two-thirds of federal spending goes to Social Security, health care for seniors, and interest on borrowed money. The U.S. will spend more than $1 trillion next year just in interest on the debt, a figure expected to top $2 trillion annually by 2035.
Hess, who has authored books like Common Sense School Reform and Stretching the School Dollar, writes that he remains "appalled" by ineffective education spending, citing New York City's $40,000-per-student expenditure that delivers dismal results and $200 billion in Covid relief funds that didn't help students much. The report notes that in last year's reconciliation bill, Republicans added more than $4 trillion in debt through the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," while at a 10-year cost of $245 billion, they included President Trump's tax breaks for auto loans, tips, overtime, and seniors. According to Hess, politicians on both sides are now proposing new tax breaks for teachers, veterans, police, renters, and seniors, with Trump's Department of Justice devising a $1.8 billion federal fund for allies who claim they were targeted by the Biden administration.
The analysis explains that the current fiscal crisis stems from decades of accumulated policy choices. The bipartisan discipline of the 1980s and 1990s—when the Greenspan Commission extended Social Security's solvency and a Democratic White House and Republican Congress ran actual budget surpluses—has vanished. The Iraq War, the Great Recession, and the Covid-19 pandemic justified big tax cuts and massive new outlays that created enormous structural deficits. On top of the $31.3 trillion in federal debt, there's another $88 trillion in unfunded liabilities for major entitlements like Social Security and Medicare. With gas prices up due to the Iran War, President Trump is pushing Congress to suspend the gas tax, potentially adding billions more to the debt. The report argues this fiscal indiscipline means today's children will inherit the tab for their elders' self-dealing.
Hess concludes he can't muster enthusiasm for cutting education data collection or Title I when those savings look like "rounding errors" compared to new tax breaks or monthly Medicare outlays. He argues it would be different if policymakers were cutting spending and raising taxes across the board to restore fiscal discipline. But pursuing symbolic savings in education while giving entitlements a pass is nonsensical, especially since education is "one of the few outlays that are plausibly an investment in more than next week."