In their quest to screech fascism and racism over every action President Trump and Republicans were elected to do, Democrats are now in high dudgeon over the president's and DOGE's attempts to eliminate or at least gut the Department of Education.
This was both a campaign promise and something that Republicans ran on doing for many years but never really made an attempt to accomplish. Now we have a president who is unlike most politicians — he does what he says he will do. And it is none too soon. Because while you would never know it if you have the misfortune of consuming the mainstream media, the DOE has long been a money-sucking cluster bomb of radical ideology and incompetence.
Here are a few facts to put this most recent righteous crusade into perspective. Since the Department of Education was created under Jimmy Carter, not coincidentally one of the worst presidents in American history, US test scores have declined sharply compared to the rest of the world, while per-student spending has soared to the highest levels in the world and our history. Neither of those is what you want, but certainly not in tandem.
It's impossible to get apples-to-apples comparisons of standardized test scores from 50 years ago, as the tests have been changed repeatedly over the years. This resulted in "higher" scores and made it impossible to compare. It's hard to believe that wasn't part of the point. I covered education for daily newspapers for a few years in the 90s and watched this phenomenon with frustration because it was obvious this would be the result.
However, looking at literacy data, in 1980, shortly after the DOE was created, the overall literacy rate was considered almost universal. Astonishingly, this was also the case for black Americans, at nearly 100 percent. Now, that has plummeted to 60-70 percent. About 30-40 percent can technically read their name on a diploma, but not much more. In most ways, they are functionally illiterate. At the same time, literacy rates around the world have increased dramatically. These stats cannot be hidden.
All that terrible ROI on the DOE really accomplishes is using money filtered through the department to strongarm school districts into pursuing woke policies that parents and the community don't want. Depending on their location and demographics, school districts receive an average of about seven percent of their funding through the DOE. That is about half the total received from the feds, which includes free and reduced lunches, Head Start and other programs. It's time for a more equitable distribution of funds, one that is fair to all students and not just those who fit the federal government's criteria.
Defenders of the DOE go to great lengths to say it plays no role in curriculum, spending, or policies, saying that is all local. But that is false. The seven percent returned to the districts comes with strings on policies that impact all levels of education. And that affects both policies and spending.
Administrators, teachers, and particularly their unions are reactively agitated over this loss of blackmail ideology. However, these same people have cried for decades about being underpaid. If they really were looking for more money locally, they would applaud the elimination of the DOE, as that money would stay in the school districts and not be run through the DC laundromat.
Let's look at two points. The average salary for a teacher in the United States was $71,699 for the 2023–2024 school year. It's not get-rich money, but it was way, way above the average American wage of $39,982 in 2023. Here's the kicker: in that same year, the average salary for employees at the DOE was $112,164. That's a lot of payola for a rapid decline in educational achievement.
This is apparent actions against interests, for worse results. Democrats claim that black Americans voting for Republicans are voting against interest. That was never true, but this is true by the raw numbers. Teachers are acting against interest, as the policies and spending of the DOE, which they support, are leading to a decline in educational achievement.
The politics are easier to understand as the Democratic Party's idea tank is running on empty, trotting out the same old tired canards. Their hatred of Trump, and let's be honest, Trump voters, has created a party that has lost all it's worth and purchase with most Americans. If Trump said that oxygen is good, they would collectively hold their breath in rallies to protest such a fascist statement.
The truly hard case is the one for keeping the DOE, which is why no one is making it. There is virtually nothing there. So instead, they attack Trump and Elon Musk and will likely judge-shop to try to save the DOE. But eliminating the DOE is a no-brainer for parents, school boards, teachers, and everyone interested in quality, affordable education.
