Department of Education: A Bad Idea Whose Time Has Gone
As part of Donald Trump’s effort to make America great again, I propose that we make America read again. One way to start would be to dismantle the Department of Education and return its responsibilities to the states.
The education industrial complex is a quagmire. Nationally, student academic outcomes have plateaued or declined. Wide achievement disparities affecting racial and ethnic minorities should shock the American conscience. Parents, particularly of African-American and Latino students, want to close these gaps and have embraced school choice. The Trump administration has an opportunity to deliver for children who for generations have been trapped in failing schools by the Democratic Party.
In 1979 President Jimmy Carter, backed by the teachers unions, signed the Department of Education Organization Act. A single department, he reasoned, would reduce administrative costs and improve efficiency. It didn’t.
