Mailbag: Did Debt Ceiling Deal Spare Education 'Sacred Cows'? Or Leave Investment Intact?

Reader Carlos Navarro caught our review of what the debt ceiling deal means for education and wrote:

It’s not education per se that will be cut. It’s the mammoth white elephant and sacred cows of the the public education establishment that will and must be slashed, to the bone. Pouring trillions year after year into a failed institution is not smart economics.

But to balance the conversation out, “Concerned” wrote (sarcastically, I’ll bet):

Education, yah that’s where we need to decrease investment, not wasteful military, or fraud in Medicare, no.

There’s still more debating to do, as we noted. Lawmakers have until November 23 to decide how they will cut $900 billion out of the federal budget — and if they can’t decide, $500 billion in automatic cuts to numerous programs, including education programs.

Already, lawmakers have indicated Pell Grants, a program to help low-income college students with tuition, appears to be off the chopping block. Republicans had said they hoped to save as much $40 billion over 10 years by making college students pay interest accrued on their loans while they’re in school.

So is that good policy? Do you think education programs need to take their share of cuts in the upcoming talks? More than their fair share of cuts? Or is cutting from education bad policy?