President-elect Trump said often during his campaign that the Department of Education should be abolished.  The idea was endorsed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as a “very reasonable proposal” for their Department of Government Efficiency. 

The Department of Education spends three times more money on education than other developing nations, yet the U.S. ranks twelfth in getting the most value for this funding behind many countries spending far less per student according to U.S. News & World Report.  Not only is the U.S. failing in education on the global and national stage, but also per pupil spending has gone up by more than 245 percent since the 1970s, with test scores rising less than 2 percent.  The federal government is great at spending money but gets a failing grade for academic achievement. 

Abolishing the Department of Education and returning education decisions back into the hands of parents and students at the state and local levels is not a new proposal.  On September 24, 1981, in his Address to the Nation on the Program for Economic Recovery, President Ronald Reagan said, “As a third step, we propose to dismantle two Cabinet Departments, Energy and Education.  Both Secretaries are wholly in accord with this.  Some of the activities in both of these departments will, of course, be continued either independently or in other areas of government.  There’s only one way to shrink the size and cost of big government, and that is by eliminating agencies that are not needed and are getting in the way of a solution.  … education is the principal responsibility of local school systems, teachers, parents, citizen boards, and State governments.  By eliminating the Department of Education less than 2 years after it was created, we cannot only reduce the budget but ensure that local needs and preferences, rather than the wishes of Washington, determine the education of our children.”

Covid-19 exacerbated the nation’s failing educational system.  The abrupt closing of schools without a plan for navigating at-home learning advanced the decline in learning.  The Nation’s Report Card shows the average 13-year-old’s understanding of math plummeting back to levels last seen in the 1990s and readers scored lower than they did in 1971, when the test was first administered.

While eliminating the Department of Education or any other federal agency requires approval by Congress, legislators must not ignore the facts.  Federal involvement in education has resulted in less competition and innovation along with the stagnating test scores.  Moving decision making from Washington back to the states and localities would open the floodgates to more opportunities and options for students, as well as save taxpayers money.  Empowering teachers, parents, and students to take control of their education would foster a more personalized learning environment that is desperately needed and the first step to getting America’s education system back on track.