Trump’s Executive Order Series

How effective has the Department of Education been since it was created in 1979?

By Rita Cook
Correspondent
Texas Metro News

It is official, Pres. Donald Trump signed an Executive Order last week to begin eliminating the Federal Department of Education (DOE).

Signed under the heading of “Returning Education to Parents and Communities” Trump’s order outlined “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of
the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”

The next question is exactly how that tall order is going to be realized?

Trump also included, “The Order also directs that programs or activities receiving any remaining Department of Education funds will not advance DEI or gender ideology.”

In the order his wording included “dismantling bureaucracy and empowering families” citing the Federal government control of education has failed students, parents, and teachers.

Not everyone who has heard Trump’s words agree though.

The National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial said in a press release, “The National Urban League vehemently condemns President Trump’s reckless and dangerous executive order to dismantle the U.S. DOE — an institution that has played a critical role in upholding America’s promise of equal educational opportunity for all. This shortsighted and politically motivated action is an outright attack on the fundamental rights of America’s students—particularly Black, Brown, students with disabilities, and low-income children—who rely on federal protections to ensure they receive a quality education.”

On the other side of the aisle many Americans have taken to social media and reminded the Department of Education was not even created until 1979. I heard some point out that they were educated prior to that date and seemed to be more educated than the current stream of students being educated after the department’s creation.

Both the executive order and those speaking for the dismantling reminded, “The Department of Education, which does not directly educate students, has spent over $3 trillion without improving student achievement as measured by standardized National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores.”

If these numbers are correct, it has been outlined federal taxpayers spent around $200 billion in additional education funding during COVID-19, which, given the substantial learning loss that resulted, typifies the ineffectiveness of the current federally driven model.”

It was also pointed out mathematics and reading scores are down in public schools, despite per-pupil spending having increased by more than 245% since the 1970s.

Apparently, the White House research indicates that 13-yearolds’ mathematics scores are the lowest they have been in decades, 13-year-olds’ reading scores are the lowest since testing began over 30 years ago, low-performing students are falling further behind and in 2023, 13 Baltimore, Maryland, high schools had zero students who tested proficient in mathematics.

The executive order also indicated the following:

The Department of Education burdens schools with regulations and paperwork.

Its “Dear Colleague” letters have forced schools to redirect resources toward complying with ideological initiatives, which diverts staff time and attention away from schools’ primary role of teaching.

Biden’s Department of Education added rules that imposed nearly $3.9 billion in costs and 4,239,530 paperwork hours.

Taxpayers will no longer be burdened with tens of billions of dollars wasted on progressive social experiments and obsolete programs.

Under the Biden Administration, the Department of Education wasted more than $1 billion in grants focused on entrenching radical ideologies in education.

Biden’s Department of Education rewrote Title IX rules to expand the definition of “sex” discrimination to include “gender identity.”

The Trump Administration recently canceled $226 million in grants under the Comprehensive Centers Program that forced radical agendas onto states and systems, including race-based discrimination and gender identity ideology.

Morial said however “Beyond its role in K-12 and higher education, the Department of Education has been pivotal in implementing student debt relief at a time when millions of Americans are drowning under the weight of educational loans. In recent years, the agency has provided life-changing financial relief to countless borrowers, helping to ease the economic burden that disproportionately impacts communities of color. Instead of offering real solutions.