By William
Credit: Unsplash
Republican presidential candidates in a recent primary debate discussed the educational crises in the United States, including low test scores, widespread dissatisfaction, and concerns about gender ideology in schools.
School choice was a common solution proposed by these candidates to address the educational problems.
There was widespread agreement among the candidates that educational policy should be returned to the states, and some advocated for the elimination of the federal Department of Education.
The Department of Education has been a target for elimination by the GOP since its establishment by President Carter in 1980.
Some GOP candidates, like former President Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy, have proposed mass firings of federal bureaucrats and civil servants as part of their plans to reduce the size of the federal workforce.
The argument against such mass firings is that federal bureaucracies perform important functions that all Americans depend on, and they often do so efficiently.
The Department of Education is criticized for promoting a far-left agenda in public schools, making education a polarizing national issue rather than one handled at the state and local levels.
The text suggests that handling education issues at the local level would lead to less outrage and more cooperation because it would prioritize the interests and opinions of local stakeholders over national political polarization.
Another reason to abolish the Department of Education is its involvement in social mores, discipline, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) measures on college campuses, which is seen as contributing to an illiberal and infantilizing student culture.