The proposed 2006 federal budget has been criticized by many in the education and technology communities for zeroing out the primary federal funding source for education technology: the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) state block-grant program. The author believes schools are better off without it. and gives reasons why. For many years, those who work in the education technology field have been aware that much of the money from EETT and state programs is misspent. The largest problem has been the overemphasis on hardware. In industry, the rule of thumb for technology investments is a third for hardware, a third for software, and a third for training and support. A good 80-85% of education technology funding has been spent on hardware and wiring over the years, leaving only 15-20% for software, training, and the vital support of hardware and applications. The result has been school labs full of machines that cannot run software on their networks, and children learning Microsoft Paint as an educational activity. EETT and state technology funding programs ensure that administrators will continue to buy hardware and networks for their schools. But it doesn't do the education technology industry, or the students, any good if those resources are poorly utilized. It's time to let educators choose the best tools for their students--whether they run on silicon or use petrochemical ink dots on mashed tree pulp as an information-delivery medium. Only then will education technology find its proper place in our schools.