The Education Dept. is a failure, and Trump is right to shut it down

For decades, the Department of Education has existed as a bloated, useless agency whose only real function has been to funnel money into the pockets of teachers’ unions, fund radical leftist social experiments at universities, and ensure that American children graduate high school barely able to read or do basic math. Now, President Trump is finally doing what should have been done long ago and shutting it down.

Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to close the department as soon as it's feasible, with the consent of Congress. This step is necessary to address the ongoing collapse of American education and our declining international standing.

Trump’s plan to dismantle the Education Department isn’t just sound policy — it’s essential for saving the next generation of Americans.

Standardized test scores have plummeted not just for years, but for decades. The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress results show that U.S. students’ math and reading scores have taken a sharp dive since 2020. In cities like Chicago and Baltimore, nearly 80% of students fail to reach proficiency in core subjects.

Many students leave school unable to read or do basic arithmetic, yet they can recite pronouns and explain why America is supposedly systemically racist. The Department of Education has prioritized ideology over academics for years. Shutting it down is the first step toward real reform.

Teachers’ unions will lose big

The Department of Education controls billions in taxpayer dollars — $80 billion in 2024 alone — but instead of improving literacy or ensuring that schools hire competent teachers, it pours money into DEI programs, bloated bureaucracy, and unnecessary administrative positions.

The people making decisions in this agency are not educators; they are political activists. While rural and inner-city schools struggle with crumbling infrastructure and a lack of basic supplies, the department prioritizes funding for transgender bathroom policies and “anti-racist” curriculum mandates.

The real beneficiaries of this system are the teachers’ unions. These unions collect billions in dues, protect bad teachers from being fired, and fought to keep schools closed during COVID while their leadership vacationed. The Department of Education exists not to serve students, but to shield and enrich these unions.

When Democrats claim abolishing the ED will “harm students,” they really mean it will harm their campaign donations. The education system functions as a financial pipeline between the government and the unions: The government funds the ED, the ED directs money to the unions, and the unions take their cut before funneling it back into Democratic political campaigns.

The numbers are clear — campaign finance reports reveal that politicians like Rep. Nancy Pelosi (R-Calif.), former Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) rake in union cash while claiming to champion the middle class. In reality, they are enabling the destruction of America’s education system.

Leftists are panicking over Trump’s move because they prioritize control over education, not the well-being of students. If they cared about children, they wouldn’t have allowed generations to graduate functionally illiterate. They wouldn’t fight to keep students trapped in failing schools while blocking every attempt at school choice. Their goal is to maintain control, keep taxpayer dollars flowing, and produce generations just smart enough to pass standardized tests — but not smart enough to question the system.

Generations of failure

Standardized testing is another disaster created by the Department of Education. American schools no longer focus on actual education; they train students to regurgitate test answers. Federal mandates force teachers to “teach to the test” instead of instructing students in critical thinking, history, or real-life skills. Schools don’t care if students understand the material. They only care if they pass the test because that determines their federal funding.

The result? Generations of students graduate without the ability to write a coherent paragraph or balance a checkbook, but they know how to fill in the right bubble on a multiple-choice exam. America’s declining educational rankings reflect this failure. While other nations teach coding and computer skills, our schools focus on test performance and gender identity lessons.

Trump’s plan to dismantle the ED isn’t just sound policy — it’s essential for saving the next generation of Americans. The federal government has repeatedly demonstrated its inability to improve public schools. For more than 40 years, it has failed to produce better outcomes. The only solution is to return control of education to states and local communities, where parents have a voice and schools are accountable to the people, not to Washington bureaucrats.

Democrats will claim this move spells the “end of public schools,” presumably to “pay for tax cuts for billionaires.” Nonsense. States are fully capable of running their own school systems, as they already provide the majority of education funding. The ED doesn’t teach children, manage classrooms, or ensure school performance. Instead, it enforces ideological conformity, enriches teachers’ unions, and punishes states that refuse to comply with its mandates. It’s a bloated bureaucracy with no real benefit to students. It’s well past time to cut it loose.

The path to success

America’s children deserve a school system that puts education over ideology. They need teachers hired for their competence, not their union connections. Parents should have more influence over their children’s education than distant bureaucrats or union bosses. Schools should equip students for success, not leave them unprepared, dependent, and burdened with student debt for degrees that offer no real career prospects.

The Department of Education has had decades to prove its value — and it has succeeded only in squandering billions of dollars. Shutting it down is the right move. Any politicians defending this bloated bureaucracy aren't protecting children’s futures; they’re protecting their own financial interests.