In his plan to dismantle the 4,400-bureaucrat Department of Education, President Donald Trump wants to free up states to control schools, boost school choice, and preserve key funding elements for higher education.
For proponents, it is a “magic moment” that would end former President Joe Biden’s mad dash to federalize and radicalize schools by instead giving Washington, D.C., a “light-handed” touch on what has always been a state and local responsibility.
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At a White House meeting with school choice leaders last Friday, Trump was expected to stop by for a quick cheer. But insiders told Secrets that he instead stayed much longer to lay out his plans.
🇺🇸President Trump welcomed pro-school choice leaders to the @WhiteHouse for National School Choice Week, reaffirming his commitment to empowering parents and championing educational freedom.@ErikaDonalds @GlennYoungkin @SarahHuckabee @BillLeeTN @JeffLandry @KellyannePolls pic.twitter.com/z5XeBcuSnP
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 31, 2025
His challenge, according to Jonathan Williams, president and chief economist of the American Legislative Exchange Council, was, “How do we make sure that this magic moment in time for education freedom is something that we can accomplish for the most possible for students and parents across the country?”
At the meeting, Williams said several governors and education experts offered Trump ideas on how they have bettered student education back home.
Williams offered his team’s new “Index of State Education Freedom” that scores states with choice and other programs for students and parents. Florida is No. 1 on their list.
We are in the midst of an educational renaissance in America. The newly released ALEC Index of State Education Freedom was created to provide a detailed and comprehensive 50-state analysis of what learning options are available and accessible to families.https://t.co/6A7F0ygbRW pic.twitter.com/miWKkdAm5j
— American Legislative Exchange Council (@ALEC_states) January 23, 2025
Trump pledged to expand state and local freedom from Washington as part of his plan to empty the Department of Education that controls a budget of $79 billion and is often accused of being controlled by the nation’s two major teachers unions.
Williams said that the roundtable discussion on school choice with Trump focused, in part, on the department.
“He was very curious as to what thoughts we had on that and I think you had so many people agreeing with the idea of devolving at least a lot of the function, even if some of the federal support, for instance, continues to go to higher ed, student violence and things like that. It could be structured much differently and more effectively,” said Williams.
He added, “I think the big piece of this is like, why do we have this massive piece of real estate, an ugly building right on the Mall in Washington, D.C., employing how many thousands of bureaucrats that have never educated a kid out of that building in their entire 40-year-plus history? And how do we rethink education? How do we rethink the way that government does business.”
Thank you @POTUS @realDonaldTrump for expanding educational freedom and opportunity for families in Virginia and across our nation! 🍎 📚✏️ pic.twitter.com/l1axCSxiXi
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) February 3, 2025
In the meeting, Trump and the officials also discussed higher education funding in addition to helping states, many of which have seen test and reading scores drop since the COVID-19 crisis despite massive federal spending.
“There was a lot of discussion around, how can the federal government support the effort of the states and do it in a light-handed way that is not overly burdensome on state autonomy and federalism. I think that’s going to be the key — can you continue these functions such as student loans and things like the GI Bill,” said Williams. “There can be a very positive element of federal facilitation of it, but not do it in a way that is overly burdensome to the states that need to lead the effort on education broadly.”
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Trump is expected to sign an executive order any day on dismantling the Department of Education. That has been a GOP goal ever since former President Jimmy Carter established it in 1980, the same year he lost to former President Ronald Reagan whose plan to kill the department with legislation failed.
“The biggest piece of it is how do we make sure that we can get that function out of D.C., into the states, but also keep some of those federal pieces of facilitation that will be necessary to keep programs running for the people that are relying on those at the same time,” said Williams.
