On March 20, President Donald Trump signed his executive order to dismantle the United States Department of Education (ED), to cheers and applause from Republicans, MAGA, and concerned parents, but cries of pain from Democrats and the Left. 

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon alluded to the reason for the divestiture of the ED in her confirmation hearing speech:

The bottom line is, because it is not working. The Department of Education was set up in 1980 — and since that time, we have spent almost almost a trillion dollars and we have watched our performance scores continue to go down. I do believe that it is a responsibility to make sure that our children do have equal access to excellent education. I think that is best handled at the state level, closest to the states. Working with state administrators, teachers, parents, who should have input into their curriculum.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) re-introduced a one-sentence bill to eliminate the ED, but detractors cry that the only way the dismantling of this overly bloated agency will be permanent is for the House of Representatives to pass legislation to shutter it; and that will not come without a fight. Democrats are working hard to peddle the lie that the real agenda for Trump targeting the U.S. ED is to allow DOGE to gut it, then use the trillions normally collected for this agency to hand out "tax breaks to his billionaire buddies." 

The people attacking Trump and Secretary McMahon are the same people who fight school choice tooth and nail, and seek to penalize and persecute homeschooling parents. The Left wants this opaque bureaucracy to continue to funnel trillions into the federal coffers to indoctrinate children in gender confusion, host drag queen and anti-American celebrations, teach children to be divided by their skin color, and to launder money for foreign endeavors. All the while, they allow our children to suffer diminishing and adverse outcomes. Over the 45 years the ED has been in existence, America has gone from No. 1 to No. 31 in literacy. 

In 1979, 0.6% of Americans were illiterate

In 1979 the Department of Education was created

In 2019, 21% of Americans are illiterate pic.twitter.com/PQYdzW2WBu

— Illegitimate Scholar🧭 (@ill_Scholar) March 21, 2025

As Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and former Chairwoman of the Committee for Education and the Workforce documented:

• Math and reading scores for 13-year-olds are at the lowest level in decades.

• Six-in-ten fourth graders and nearly three-quarters of eighth graders are not proficient in math.

• Seven-in-ten fourth and eighth graders are not proficient in reading, while 40% of fourth grade students don’t even meet basic reading levels.

• Standardized test scores have remained flat for decades. 

With a nonexistent return on investment, student achievement cratering, and the current landscape of education in America being as desolate as it is, the sensible solution is to completely reexamine the way education is handled in our country. Within the Constitution, “education” is not listed as an enumerated power of the federal government – scour this sacred document and you will not find that word listed one single time. Education must be returned to states and localities where it belongs. 

If the Democrat Left has anything to do with it, this will not happen. They continue to promote lies about what will happen if the federal ED disappears. They deceive with coded language about suffering children and disaffected minorities. They declare that if the states get to handle their own education dollars it will eliminate school lunch programs. They decree that Pell grant funding for needy college students will disappear. And they delude that services for special needs children will cease. All balderdash, and why we need strong, critically-thinking conservatives to join us in the fight to keep disseminating the truth to counter their lies.

By joining RedState VIP, you will become part of the army working to save education for America's children and return freedom of choice back to parents and educators who care about educational outcomes that build thinking individuals and productive citizens, not contribute to some politicians' or elitist's bottom line. The writers here at RedState believe in equipping present and future generations with facts, truth, and most importantly, literacy. Reading comprehension and critical thinking are the main tools of liberty that allow us to advocate and fight to maintain our freedoms. A literate and thinking people are difficult to control or enslave, but if the ED continues in its present state, that 7 in 10 number of functionally illiterate Americans will only grow, and there will be fewer and fewer of us equipped to put up a fight.

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