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<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\nThe debate over the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has reached a fever pitch, with growing momentum to dismantle the federal agency and shift control of education back to states and local communities. Drawing from arguments made in recent writings\u2014two from late 2024 exploring the rationale for elimination<\/strong><\/a> and an assessment of the DOE\u2019s track record<\/strong><\/a>, alongside a March 2025 piece cautioning against premature celebration\u2014this update consolidates these perspectives and proposes actionable steps for states and localities to ensure education reflects the priorities of those closest to the classroom.<\/p>\n
Molly Slag @ American Thinker: Getting rid of the federal Department of Education is just the beginning<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Few federal agencies warrant dissolution as much as the Department of Education. A bill in Congress to achieve just that has been introduced, the \u201cStates\u2019 Education Reclamation Act.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The central source of this confusion lies in the fact that there is no such thing as \u201cthe\u201d Department of Education. There are 51 departments of education. Dissolving one of them leaves 50 standing.<\/p>\n It\u2019s actually worse than that because there aren\u2019t just 50 other<\/strong><\/span> Departments of Education. The American education system is indeed a nationwide system. The system consists of teachers, administrators, principals, superintendents, school boards, and university education departments, along with both the state and federal DOEs. That\u2019s eight constituents. Eliminating one leaves seven standing, multiplied across 50 states.<\/p>\n A surprise awaits people celebrating the federal DOE\u2019s imminent demise. The state DOEs are baby sisters of the federal DOE, with the same views and policies on education.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The push to eliminate the DOE rests on several core arguments. First, it\u2019s seen as a bloated bureaucracy<\/strong><\/em><\/span> that siphons resources without delivering proportional benefits. Critics point out that the federal government contributes only about 10-15% of public education funding, yet exerts outsized influence through regulations and mandates. Dissolving the DOE could redirect its roughly $70 billion annual budget to states, allowing them to allocate funds based on local needs rather than federal priorities. This aligns with the view that education is a state responsibility under the U.S. Constitution, not a federal one\u2014a principle echoed in calls to reduce \u201cwasteful spending on useless bureaucrats in Washington,\u201d as noted in posts on X.<\/p>\n Second, the DOE\u2019s track record is under scrutiny.<\/strong> <\/em><\/span>Its 40-plus years of existence have coincided with stagnant or declining student outcomes in key areas like reading and math, despite increased spending. Programs like No Child Left Behind and Common Core, driven by federal oversight, have been criticized as one-size-fits-all solutions that stifle innovation and burden educators with compliance rather than empowering them to teach. The argument is clear: centralized control has failed to deliver, and returning authority to states could foster experimentation and accountability tailored to diverse communities.<\/p>\nThe Case for Elimination<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
The Cautionary Note<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n