Editorial: Trump delivering on Education Dept. promise
The Trump administration is taking significant steps to reshape the Department of Education, a move that has been long anticipated by conservative critics who argue that the federal agency has hindered educational progress in the United States. According to a recent report from The Washington Post, the administration plans to reallocate various grant programs from the Department of Education to other Cabinet agencies. Notably, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Office of Postsecondary Education will be transferred to the Labor Department, while the International Foreign Language Education program will move under the State Department’s purview. This reorganization reflects a broader strategy to decentralize control over education funding and policy, granting more authority to state and local officials.
The origins of the Department of Education date back to 1979, when it was established by President Jimmy Carter, primarily to address the demands of teachers’ unions. However, critics argue that despite its growing budget—now projected to reach $268 billion in fiscal 2024—the department has failed to improve educational outcomes in the U.S. Since its inception, standardized test scores have stagnated, and college tuition has skyrocketed, leaving many graduates with crippling debt. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has articulated a vision for a streamlined approach that prioritizes local governance over federal oversight, asserting that most federal funding merely serves as a pass-through mechanism. She emphasizes that funding for essential programs, such as those for low-income students and students with disabilities, predates the department and will continue, even as the federal government’s role diminishes.
While proponents of the Department of Education warn that these changes could jeopardize vital educational programs, McMahon counters that the reforms simply aim to dismantle a centralized bureaucracy that stifles innovation and local accountability. With the federal government contributing only about 8.5% of local education funding, critics like Neal McCluskey from the Cato Institute argue that the federal presence often comes with burdensome mandates that can hinder meaningful reform. By taking decisive action to streamline the Department of Education, the Trump administration is following through on a longstanding Republican promise to curtail federal involvement in education, a move that could reshape the landscape of American public schooling for years to come. As the administration pushes for these changes, the focus now shifts to Congress, where further legislative action may be required to fully realize this vision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNQ3CxPzu1I
The Trump administration is moving forward with efforts to neuter the Department of Education. The move couldn’t come fast enough.
The Washington Post reported this week that various grant programs within the department will be moved under other Cabinet agencies. This includes the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Office of Postsecondary Education, which will become part of the Labor Department. International Foreign Language Education will become part of the State Department.
It would take an act of Congress to eliminate the Education Department outright, but the White House does have leeway to downsize and reorganize its functions.
President Jimmy Carter created the department in 1979 as a sop to the teachers unions. Since then, it has done virtually nothing to improve the state of American public education while its budget has jumped from an original $14 billion to $268 billion in fiscal 2024. Meanwhile, U.S. test scores lag and the price of college has soared, leaving many graduates buried in debt.
Republicans from Ronald Reagan on have repeatedly vowed to dismantle the agency, but Trump is the first to follow through.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon noted that the goal is to give state and local education officials more discretion rather than to shackle them with the edicts that often accompany federal funding.
“The shutdown proved an argument that conservatives have been making for 45 years,” McMahon wrote in a recent op-ed for USA Today. “The U.S. Department of Education is mostly a pass-through for funds that are best managed by the states.”
Defenders of the department scare parents by claiming reforms will mean the end of vital programs at their local schools. Nonsense. “It simply means the end of a centralized bureaucracy micromanaging what should be a state-led responsibility,” McMahon explained.
“Funding for low-income students and students with disabilities predates the Education Department and will continue indefinitely. Protecting students’ civil rights is work that will never go away.”
Indeed, the federal government supplies only about 8.5% of local education spending. “But the feds need relatively little money to exert power,” writes Neal McCluskey of the Cato Institute. And that power burdens school districts with edicts and mandates that often discourage reform and experimentation while doing little to improve student outcomes.
Eliminating the Department of Education was one of President Donald Trump’s campaign promises, and he deserves credit for moving forward where other GOP leaders got cold feet. Trump and McMahon should next put heat on Republicans in Congress to finish the job.
Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service
Editorial cartoon by Steve Kelley (Creators Syndicate)
