Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is in a furious race for the GOP presidential nomination, unveiled a flat tax plan today that also takes direct aim at federal education spending.

Perry wants to cut $100 billion in federal non-defense spending, and one-quarter of that would come from the U.S. Department of Education, according to his plan. (His plan doesn’t appear to put a target timeline for achieving the full $100 billion in savings.) He proposes slashing half of all funding for elementary and secondary programs, which he estimates will save $25 billion in the first year, and sending that money back to the states.
Frankly, given all the talk in the GOP field about eliminating the Education Department entirely, I’m surprised he’s going to let those programs keep half their money. Perry has been no fan of the Education Department of late. He wanted no part of Race to the Top, and so far his state is mum on whether or not it will seek a waiver (permission?) from the feds for flexibility under the No Child Left Behind Act. Perry has also denounced the common core movement.