As if the $10 billion “public education bailout” wasn’t enough to stomach, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) has introduced a bill, titled Education for All Act of 2010, which would spend American tax dollars on education systems around the globe. It’s S.3797.

U.S. Rep Nita Lowey (D-CA) has introduced similar legislation as H.B. 5117.

I think Washington has officially lost its marbles.

While no dollar amount is contained in the legislation, the bill states, “Credible estimates indicate that approximately $16,000,000,000 per year of financing assistance is necessary for developing countries to achieve universal basic education by 2015.”

Is Sen. Gillibrand really proposing to spend an additional $16 billion of our hard-earned tax dollars elsewhere?

Does spending money in other countries imply that our system is okay? Or that it’s on a course of improvement? Because in case these members of Congress haven’t noticed, our system kind of stinks.

For example, my organization just conducted an on-camera interview with a 22-year old Detroit Public Schools graduate who couldn’t read. That will be in a documentary film on our public education system to be released in the coming months.

And according to McKinsey and Co., American students score 25th in the world for math scores and 24th globally in science.

And we’re focusing on funding education in other countries?

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe these funds should be spent in the United States. I think they shouldn’t be spent at all, because they aren’t necessary.

But there must be another objective to spending more American tax dollars overseas. Why would the two national teachers unions, which I would think would be fighting for every penny to bolster the pay and benefits of their *American* dues-payers. Do the national unions now want to start organizing globally, ala Andy Stern and SEIU?

From Gillbrand’s news release, quoting American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten:

“This bill, which establishes a Global Fund for Education, is a step toward keeping the promise of providing a free basic education for the 72 million children around the world who do not have an opportunity to go to school.”

Um, Randi, who made the promise that American taxpayers have to keep?

And Weingarten wasn’t the only union leader gushing all over this outsourcing of Americans’ money.

National Education Association Vice President Lily Eskelsen said, “We are five years away from the commitment to achieve universal basic education and we are way behind schedule. We cannot afford to fail.”

So American taxpayers, open up your wallets; you haven’t given enough.

Washington’s found another way to fritter away your tax dollars.