Getting rid of the federal Department of Education is just the beginning

[mystery-ak]

March 19, 2025
Getting rid of the federal Department of Education is just the beginning
By Molly Slag

Few federal agencies warrant dissolution as much as the Department of Education. A bill in Congress to achieve just that has been introduced, the “States’ Education Reclamation Act.”

Jeffrey A. Tucker explains that the Act won’t just save taxpayers $70 billion.

    More importantly, it will return education to the states completely, which is an essential first step to fixing the whole system. The target is to return education to families and communities in both financing and control. That is the American system. Nothing else will substitute.

However, returning education to the states is not the same thing as returning it to families and communities. Dissolving the DOE does, indeed, seem to be in the cards, yet euphoria at the prospect may be exaggerated due to some wholly understandable confusion on the topic.

The central source of this confusion lies in the fact that there is no such thing as “the” Department of Education. There are 51 departments of education. Dissolving one of them leaves 50 standing.

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https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/03/getting_rid_of_the_federal_department_of_education_is_just_the_beginning.html

[DefiantMassRINO]

America landed on the moon without a US Department of Education.  How necessary is it?

[Smokin Joe]

America landed on the moon without a US Department of Education.  How necessary is it?

Those of us who went through school in that era received a far better education than those who came after.

[Bigun]

Those of us who went through school in that era received a far better education than those who came after.

And that has been documented in every metric!

[Smokin Joe]

And that has been documented in every metric!

Sadly, our parents got even better, at whatever grade level they achieved.

A Bachelor's degree once meant a significant achievement in education...now, not so much.

[Bigun]

Sadly, our parents got even better, at whatever grade level they achieved.

A Bachelor's degree once meant a significant achievement in education...now, not so much.

Several years ago, I publicly told a very well-regarded university professor here that a 1966 HS diploma was at least equivalent to a 2006 bachelors. He didn't like that I had said it but made no response.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

An agency that exists for awhile needs to demonstrate how those funds disbursed have actually helped groups to no longer need aid.

We cannot be a welfare state where people are permanently on welfare.

If it has existed for decades and is still administering aid to those same groups, it has failed in its mission and need to disband.

There are myriads of examples out there, like the war on poverty agencies.

"give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime"

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

But how does Trump have the unilateral authority to get rid of it though? I'm just wondering here.

[Bigun]

But how does Trump have the unilateral authority to get rid of it though? I'm just wondering here.

The same way Jimmuh CAATA created it in the first place. Executive authority.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Trump might not be able to unilaterally abolish the US Dept of Education, but he can de-fang and de-claw it, so it exists in name only.

The important thing is to downsize, eliminate positions, reduce expenditures, and reduce future Congressional appropriations.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

The same way Jimmuh CAATA created it in the first place. Executive authority.

Was signed into law by Carter from everything I can see.

[Smokin Joe]

Several years ago, I publicly told a very well-regarded university professor here that a 1966 HS diploma was at least equivalent to a 2006 bachelors. He didn't like that I had said it but made no response.

I have some textbooks from the early 20th century that were intended for what would be called middle school today. Math problems like: Your wagon is eight feet by twenty feet, and has three foot sideboards. How many pecks of grain can be loaded onto it, assuming the grain is level with the tops of the sideboards?

I would wager that even given that a peck is 0.311114 cubic feet, many HS grads today could not solve the problem, especially without a calculator.

[Smokin Joe]

Was signed into law by Carter from everything I can see.

You are correct. Congress created it, Jimmy signed off on it. That may limit Trump's ability to completely eliminate it, but he can cut it back considerably.

[Bigun]

I have some textbooks from the early 20th century that were intended for what would be called middle school today. Math problems like: Your wagon is eight feet by twenty feet, and has three foot sideboards. How many pecks of grain can be loaded onto it, assuming the grain is level with the tops of the sideboards?

I would wager that even given that a peck is 0.311114 cubic feet, many HS grads today could not solve the problem, especially without a calculator.

I suspect that very few HS graduates today have ever heard the word "peck" used as a unit of measure. They can't even make change at the grocery store much less figure out the volume of a container.

In my head I calculate that the wagon will hold approximately 150 pecks or 37.5 Bushels