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“President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order intended to essentially dismantle the federal Department of Education, making good on a longstanding campaign promise to conservatives… Thursday's order was a first step ‘to eliminate’ the department, Trump said at a signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Shuttering the agency completely requires an act of Congress.” Reuters
The left opposes eliminating the department, arguing that doing so will harm vulnerable students.
“First, let’s talk about what the Education Department doesn’t do. It does not set K-12 curricula or tell schools what to teach. That’s up to states and individual districts. So when Trump says he wants to get rid of the Education Department in order to send education ‘back to the states,’ it’s somewhat misleading, because state and local governments are already in charge of what kids learn in schools…
“Under a program known as Title I, the department sends federal money to schools with a high percentage of low-income students to help them hire additional teachers or otherwise bolster core subject areas like reading… The federal government makes up about 14 percent of school budgets overall, according to the Associated Press, but low-income schools receive additional funding…
“The department also sends money to states under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), helping schools provide small class sizes and other supports for students with disabilities…
“[At the college level] It makes sure the application for federal financial aid, the FAFSA, is available to students, that the information students enter is sent to colleges, and that the money is actually disbursed… [Finally] The Education Department serves as a ‘watchdog for student civil rights’ at K-12 schools and colleges.”
Anna North, Vox
“Reallocating Education Department responsibilities would require students and their families to go to multiple agencies to enforce their rights—not only making the civil rights landscape more complex for families but also burdening other government agencies that often lack the expertise to manage these responsibilities. The Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, for example, handles tens of thousands of civil rights complaints each year…
“Even without abolishing the department entirely, the significant staff reductions could heavily impair the agency’s ability to investigate civil rights complaints. On March 14, parents and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, a national disability rights group, sued the Department of Education to reverse the reduction in force that is slated to take effect on Friday. The department closed 7 of its 12 civil rights offices and slashed its civil rights workforce in half.”
Sarah Szilagy, Mother Jones
“The fiat isn’t only poised to have sweeping impacts on education in the US; it is perhaps Trump’s boldest assertion of executive authority. The president, who has been testing the judicial branch’s check on him, has already sidestepped—and essentially sidelined—the legislative branch, assuming power over the purse that normally rests with Congress and empowering Elon Musk to decimate agencies established by lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The Department of Education is the largest target of that power grab.”
Eric Lutz, Vanity Fair
The right supports eliminating the department, arguing that doing so will reduce red tape.
The right supports eliminating the department, arguing that doing so will reduce red tape.
“The Education Department was created as a payoff to the National Education Association teachers union, which supported Carter’s candidacy in 1976, in the NEA’s first-ever presidential endorsement. ‘The idea of an Education Department is really a bad one,’ an anonymous liberal House Democrat told the Journal’s Al Hunt in 1979. ‘But it’s NEA’s top priority. There are school teachers in every congressional district and most of us simply don’t need the aggravation of taking them on.’…
“Five decades later, the Education Department runs a student-loan boondoggle with a $1.6 trillion portfolio, while harassing schools, states and districts with progressive diktats on everything from transgender bathroom use to Covid-19 mask rules. What the Education Department hasn’t done is improve the academic performance of American students. The real action is in the states, including on school choice, which has a proven record.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
“Last year, the department spent $268 billion. About $68 billion of that was sent back to states and school districts in the form of grants — but only after states jumped through expensive, time-consuming hoops… The requirements are so burdensome that in some Utah classrooms, paraprofessionals do much of the teaching because licensed teachers are overwhelmed by federal paperwork…
“If eliminating the department entirely is too much to ask, shifting to flexible block grants would be a commonsense improvement. It would cut red tape, save money, and allow states to innovate in ways that best serve their students. I understand some critics worry that without national oversight, some states might fall behind. But that’s how federalism works…
“Our founders expected states to try different approaches and learn from one another. Innovation happens when states are free to lead, not when Washington imposes one-size-fits-all solutions.”
Spencer Cox, Washington Examiner
Some argue, “[Conservatives are] right to doubt that the department has lived up to expectations of improving American students’ performance. But the history of their quest to end the department suggests that the fight will erode their political standing, and that victory might not amount to much more than the federal government no longer having a building or a website labeled ‘the Department of Education.’…
“A more productive strategy would look to achievable reforms to student loans, better enforcement of civil rights on college campuses, and an expansion of school choice — some of which Trump is already undertaking. Continuing these efforts would not be quite as exciting as demolishing a federal building. But it might leave Republicans with more to show for their work.”
Ramesh Ponnuru, Washington Post
A libertarian's take
“It is often forgotten that the Education Department is a relatively new creation, at least in government years. It opened in 1980 and remains a relatively small source of funds for local schools. Since the 1979-80 school year, the entire federal government has typically provided only around 9% of all public elementary and secondary school revenues. Only about half of that passes through the actual Department of Education, with things like school lunches coming from the Department of Agriculture, for example…
“But that percentage still amounts to a significant number. In 2022, the department delivered $44.7 billion for elementary and secondary education… What have we gotten for decades of such largesse? If test scores are the measure, virtually nothing. While federal funding has risen, outcomes for high school seniors – the system’s ‘final products’ – have largely stagnated… If Trump succeeds in mothballing the department, many of its existing duties could simply be shifted to other offices – ones that would likely be more competent in carrying them out.”
Neal McCluskey, USA Today
