I was honored to stand in the White House recently as President Donald Trump signed an executive order to abolish the U.S. Department of Education. For some, that act sounds extreme — even dangerous. But for those of us who’ve watched the federal government fail generations of students, this was a long-overdue course correction. The time has come to return education to the people it actually serves — students, families, and local communities.
States, Not Bureaucrats, Should Lead Education
The United States is a republic, and in a republic, power flows upward from the people — not downward from Washington. The Tenth Amendment is crystal clear: powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved for the states and the people. Education has always been one of those powers — until 1979, when the Department of Education was created and began centralizing authority over a deeply local issue.
Since then, we’ve seen ballooning federal involvement with dismal results. A growing army of bureaucrats in D.C. has dictated what happens in classrooms across all 50 states — and it hasn’t worked. The experiment has failed.
Billions Spent, Basics Forgotten
America spends more money per student than any other country in the world. And yet, we continue to produce some of the worst educational outcomes among developed nations. Math and reading scores have plummeted. Civic knowledge has eroded. And perhaps the most tragic irony of all: most of today’s high school graduates would struggle to read the executive order that just abolished the very institution that failed them.
This isn’t a partisan issue — it’s a national disgrace. For over 40 years, both parties have promised reform while students continue to fall further behind. The Department of Education has become a monument to inefficiency: all process, no progress.
This Isn’t the End — It’s a New Beginning
Abolishing the Department of Education does not mean abandoning the critical services many students rely on. Programs like Pell Grants for low-income students and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which investigates discrimination in schools, are not being eliminated. They are being relocated to departments better equipped to manage them, where they can operate more efficiently and with greater accountability.
This move is not about destroying public education. It’s about decentralizing it — restoring it to states, districts, and parents who understand the unique needs of their communities. A school in rural Iowa does not need the same approach as one in downtown Philadelphia. A federal, one-size-fits-all model ignores that reality and punishes innovation at the local level.
We Are Living Einstein’s Definition of Insanity
Albert Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That’s exactly what we’ve done in education for decades. New plans, new names, new standards — but always the same top-down control and always the same poor outcomes.
When something doesn’t work — not once, not twice, but consistently over generations — it’s time to stop tweaking and start over. That’s what this executive order does. It doesn’t dismantle education; it liberates it.
Critics Are Missing the Point
To those who claim this move is reckless or anti-education, I ask: Where was your outrage when our kids were falling through the cracks? When 13-year-olds couldn’t subtract or write a paragraph? When parents were told their concerns didn’t matter?
The true radicalism is in pretending that Washington knows best. That model has failed, and defending it is to defend the indefensible. What’s truly pro-education is demanding something better — a system that empowers teachers, includes parents, and prioritizes students over systems.
A New Era of Accountability and Hope
This moment is not an end, but a beginning — the start of an educational renaissance driven by local vision, not federal mandates. States will lead. Communities will innovate. And parents will once again be trusted partners, not bystanders.
For too long, we’ve waited for D.C. to fix what D.C. broke. Now, we’re putting that responsibility — and that opportunity — back where it belongs.
It’s time to stop defending a system that produces failure and start building one that produces freedom, excellence, and real learning.
This is how we reclaim our schools — and our future.
