Senator Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, introduced legislation Thursday that would abolish the U.S. Department of Education. It follows through on a campaign promise made by President-elect Donald Trump. According to the statement of Rounds’ office, the senator said local control of education is paramount, because school boards and state Departments of Education know best what students need, not federal bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.
The legislation proposed is styled as the Returning Education to Our States Act, which would transfer some of the functions of the Department of Education to other federal agencies. The push for the abolition of the department by Rounds falls in line with Trump’s long-held view about pulling back the federal footprint in education. Throughout the presidential campaign, Trump continually promised to close the department, instead promising to send federal dollars on to students rather than a bloated Washington bureaucracy. “We want federal education dollars to follow the student,” Trump said in October, driven by his local-control philosophy.
Founded in 1979, it has been a key department to administer federal funds to local public schools, especially those receiving eligibility awards to low-income students, and administration of financial aid programs to college students. While its functions, Rounds assailed the department for growing into an oversized bureaucracy, and pounded away at the “inefficiency” of its budget and per-student spending, particularly against the backdrop of falling standardized test scores.
Although bills to eliminate the department have been introduced in the past, Rounds’ bill is unlikely to move ahead this session because Democrats, who would be opposed to such a step, now hold both the Senate and the White House. However, it could become reintroduced in the next term, though this would need a huge bipartisan effort—well over 60 Senate votes—to pass.
Meanwhile, opposition to the bill continues to build, with critics on both sides of the aisle arguing the Department of Education remains essential to the shaping of national education policy.
