Dr. Cade Brumley supports the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) because he says he’s a strong supporter of allowing Louisiana residents to decide what should be taught in public school. The department has fired 1,300 workers, which is half of its staff. But only Congress has the authority to abolish the agency. As the Louisiana Radio Network reports, Brumley contends that, “We’ve got to trust moms and dads and teachers and policymakers here to make good decisions, and I think that’s what the Trump administration is going to do by putting more emphasis on State.”
But U.S. law [20 USC 1232a] already prohibits federal control of education, which includes any involvement in school curriculum. Instead, the department’s main role is allocating federal aid to schools and colleges and enforcing laws to protect students from discrimination. Brumley contends there are other agencies that can handle those roles. “In turn, they could take funding that they have available and simply block grant that out to states, where states are making decisions on the best way to utilize dollars.” Yet many worry that eliminating the ED will also affect millions of students in low-income communities. The National Education Association (NEA) President Becky Pringle contends that eliminating the department would be equivalent to “giving up on our future.”
Newly installed Education Secretary Linda McMahon says she wants to reduce the bloat at the U.S. Department of Education, which she believes will result in more federal dollars for local education. The education department provides 13.6% of funding for public K-12 education. Local and state funds cover the remaining 86.4% of school funding.
This effort to dismantle the Education Department is not new. In President Trump’s first term his administration proposed merging the Education and Labor Departments. But the idea never gained enough traction in Congress to move forward. Yet moving forward, President has said he wants his new education chief, Linda McMahon, to “put herself out of a job.”
