WASHINGTON, D.C.(DRGNews)- U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon recently spoke to members of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies.

South Dakota U.S. Senator Mike Rounds is a member of that subcommittee and told McMahon that student test scores in the United States are headed in the wrong direction.

Rounds is pushing to return education decisions back to the states.

McMahon thinks the federal Education Department has lost its way, and says she prefers the path Rounds is proposing.

McMahon acknowledged that the $2 billion in funding she mentioned is a smaller amount than is currently being given to schools, but also said states– not the federal government– provide more than 90% of the dollars used to support public education.

Rounds also asked what the plan is regarding Impact Aid, which is money that comes back to the states to replace what would otherwise have been property tax dollars on federal lands that aren’t currently taxed. McMahon responded by saying they’ve not yet determined if Impact Aid distribution will remain with the U.S. Education Department or a different federal agency, but added that those dollars are currently going out on time, and they’re getting to where they’re supposed to go.