1. Short title This Act may be cited as the States’ Education Reclamation Act of 2017 . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Principles of federalism embodied in the Constitution of the United States entrust authority over issues of educational policy to the States and the people and a Federal Department of Education is inconsistent with such principles. (2) Tradition and experience dictate that the governance and management of schools in the United States are best performed by parents, teachers, and communities. (3) The education of the Nation’s students is suffering under a managerial government. (4) The Department of Education has weakened the ability of parents to make essential decisions about their children’s education and has undermined the capacity of communities to govern their schools. (5) In the 34 years of its existence, the Department of Education has grown from a budget of $14 billion to almost $65.7 billion in annual discretionary appropriations administering around 100 programs. Meanwhile, education performance for 17-year-olds has stagnated since 1971. (6) The Department of Education has fostered over-regulation, standardization, bureaucratization, and litigation in United States education. (7) The Department of Education expends large amounts of money on its own maintenance and overhead. While the average national salary for public school teachers is $56,103 the average salary for a Department of Education employee is $108,571. (8) In certain States, the average State salary for a public school teacher is less than the national average. In North Carolina, the average salary for a public school teacher is $45,737. (9) Recent tests reflect poor results in mathematics, science, and reading for American students compared with students from other nations. (10) Only through initiatives led by parents and local communities with the power to act can the United States elevate educational performance toward an acceptable level. (11) The current system of top-down education uniformity is