Trump’s Education Smackdown: Shutting Down the Department of Education
Politicians are pros at promising the moon and delivering a pebble. G.K. Chesterton nailed it: when they’re out of power, they’re wizards with a plan; in power, they’re magicians at making excuses. Most folks have grown so used to this song-and-dance that they don’t bat an eye when campaign trail bravado fizzles into “meh.”
Enter Donald Trump—business titan, reality TV “you’re fired” guy, and a former president who’s weathered a political rollercoaster wilder than a WWE cage match. This time, voters are catching on: when Trump says he’ll do something, you’d better buckle up.
Take his March 20, 2025 Executive Order to axe the federal Department of Education. He didn’t just whisper this idea during his White House hiatus—he shouted it from the rooftops. Yet, plenty figured it’d stay a pipe dream, drowned out by the same old “it’s too hard” excuses from past presidents. Wrong. Trump dropped this move like a body slam from his wrestling cameo days—except it’s no script. It’s real, and it’s sticking.
I’ve been cheering this from the sidelines for months as readers remember my CalMatters take from January. Democrats, bless their hearts, are clutching pearls like the sky’s falling. But here’s the kicker: if they love their big-government goodies—local jobs, union perks—why ship control off to some D.C. desk jockey thousands of miles away? Local is where it’s at. Always has been.
Sure, the naysayers are buzzing about what happens to Title I, FERPA, special education, civil rights, and student loans. Newsflash: these programs aren’t orphans. Other federal departments—like Health and Human Services or Justice—have handled them before and can again. No need for a bloated Education HQ to play middleman.
And if Congress wants to block-grant those federal dollars? Fine. Let state legislatures divvy it up—through budgets, governors, counties, whatever works. That’s their job, not Uncle Sam’s.
Here’s the real win: no more D.C. scapegoats. For decades, local districts have pointed fingers at Washington when test scores tank or classrooms crumble. “It’s the feds’ fault!” they’d cry. Well, that excuse just got pink-slipped. The Department of Education’s 45-year reign has been a flop—academic outcomes sliding faster than a kid on a Slip ‘N Slide. As has been said countless times, “Why let Caesar run our schools and then wonder why our kids act like Romans?” Time’s up for that experiment.
Education is a local game, plain and simple. Federal meddling is like a nosy neighbor who keeps rearranging your furniture—well-meaning, maybe, but a total pain. Bringing the cash and the reins back to our communities is a no-brainer. Parents, teachers, and school boards know their kids better than any suit in a marble office ever could. They’ve got the boots on the ground; let them call the shots.
The data backs this up. My CalMatters piece flagged how California’s own education mess—bloated bureaucracy, dismal results—mirrors the federal mess. Strip away the D.C. layer, and states like ours can quit playing defense against top-down nonsense. We don’t need open minds about federal overreach; we need open doors to local solutions.
Trump’s order isn’t just a policy shift—it’s a power move. It’s a refutation of the idea that Washington knows best. Education isn’t a one-size-fits-all sweater knitted by bureaucrats; it’s a patchwork quilt, stitched by the folks who live it every day. Congress has some homework ahead to iron out the details, but the message is loud and clear: get the feds out of our classrooms.
So, let’s raise a glass to this shake-up. No more outsourcing our kids’ futures to a swamp that’s more about red tape than red apples on teachers’ desks. Education belongs where the buses roll, the bells ring, and the chalk dust flies—right here at home. D.C. can keep its hands off our chalkboards. We’ve got this.
— By Lance Christensen, Senior Fellow at California Policy Center and President of California Policy Partners