Last week, I pointed out in the column how far-left Democrats are predicting the end of Democracy — and some the end of the world — now that Donald Trump has won the election and will be the next President of the United States.
The fear-mongering does not stop there. One of Trump’s goals is eliminating the Federal Department of Education (DoE). Just the talk of dismantling the DoE has many on the left losing sleep — the horror.
Before I go any further, I need to divulge my connections. My wife is a retired teacher. She spent 31 years in the public education system as part of the Gasconade County R-2 School District. Two of her sisters are also retired teachers. Her youngest sister is still in the public education system.
Let’s look at some reasons to scrap the DoE.
First and foremost, the United States education system is not improving under the DoE. When compared to other developed countries in the world, we are losing ground. In 2018 — before COVID — the U.S. ranking for education worldwide was 27th, down from 6th in 1990. Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, says, “Thirty countries now outperform the United States in mathematics at the high school level. Many are ahead in science, too.”
This news comes with the caveat that funding for education in the U.S. is 50 percent higher than in most other developed nations. We are spending more but getting less. In the last 25 years, the DoE has spent $1.4 trillion. Close to nine percent of its budget is for administration.
Next, the DoE uses the power of the purse to control education in the states. One example is Common Core standards. When released in 2010, each state was only required to implement this system if they wanted federal funding. It’s called blackmail.
Over the years, the Federal Government’s role has switched from funding support to direct control. This “control” has made it more difficult for teachers to teach.
Trump wants to go back to giving out block grants to states, allowing each state to spend the money where it’s needed most.
Too much bureaucracy in the government is a weight around the neck of our education system. More bureaucracy at the top in Washington DC adds more red tape to our education system, with increased administrators needed at the local and state levels.
“Take the power away from the Department of Education, block-grant those funds, continue to invest in education, but get it down to a much more local level where better decisions are made on behalf of students,” Betsy DeVos, Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Education, proposed. “The bureaucrats at the Department of Education aren’t doing the job. They haven’t done the job for more than four decades to close the achievement gaps — they’ve only widened.”
According to ConnectUs.com, getting rid of the DoE would end duplication. “By ending the duplication in the centralized system, taxpayers could save billions of dollars each year in meaningless labor. It would also make each state answerable to their voters for their spending habits.”
Where do you think you have the least control over the education of our children, federal, state, or local?
Without the DoE, outrageous student loans would become a thing of the past. When I was in college, student loans came through private institutions, not the government. Without the DoE, loans would revert to local banks. A loan officer at your local bank would keep your son or daughter from running up $50,000 to $80,000 in loans for an art history degree.
What liberals are worried about is that without the DoE, the federal government would lose its power to control schools, forcing them to spend money on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) curriculum, Transgender education, Critical Race Theory and allow biological males to use girls’ bathrooms and compete in girls’ sports.
It has been 45 years since President Jimmy Carter signed into law the bill that formed the U.S. Department of Education. That was 1979. I left the public school system in 1978. Amazingly, my generation, and most baby boomers, turned out fine without the DoE.
Many have talked about dismantling the DoE, starting with Ronald Reagan. Will Trump be able to?
If Trump succeeds in this endeavor — which is a long shot — it will not mean the end of education it will mean the end of Federal controls. It may improve education.
