News/Commentary

Eight GOP reps back Thomas Massie’s move to terminate the Department of Education

February 14, 2023 | | Print Article

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., announced on Tuesday that he has introduced a bill to eliminate the Department of Education, with the lawmaker calling into question the constitutional authority to create such an agency.

“I have introduced a bill to terminate the Department of Education. There is no Constitutional authority for this federal bureaucracy to exist,” Massie tweeted.

“Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development,” Massie said in a press release. “States and local communities are best positioned to shape curricula that meet the needs of their students. Schools should be accountable. Parents have the right to choose the most appropriate educational opportunity for their children, including home school, public school, or private school.”

Original co-sponsors include Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA), Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX).

The move comes amid a growing effort on the right to fight back against the woke left’s influence on education, with classrooms becoming the frontlines of the cultural war underway in  America.

Massie pointed out that the Department of Education began operating in 1980 — former President Jimmy Carter pushed for creating a cabinet-level Department of Education in 1979 — before including a quote from a Sept. 1981 speech from Carter’s successor, President Ronald Reagan.

“As a third step, we propose to dismantle two Cabinet Departments, Energy and Education,” Reagan said. “Both Secretaries are wholly in accord with this. Some of the activities in both of these departments will, of course, be continued either independently or in other areas of government. There’s only one way to shrink the size and cost of big government, and that is by eliminating agencies that are not needed and are getting in the way of a solution.”

“Now, we don’t need an Energy Department to solve our basic energy problem,” Reagan continued. “As long as we let the forces of the marketplace work without undue interference, the ingenuity of consumers, business, producers, and inventors will do that for us. Similarly, education is the principal responsibility of local school systems, teachers, parents, citizen boards, and State governments. By eliminating the Department of Education less than 2 years after it was created, we cannot only reduce the budget but ensure that local needs and preferences, rather than the wishes of Washington, determine the education of our children.”

While the bill is not likely to go anywhere given the current breakdown in DC, the idea of eliminating the Education Department appeals to many Americans.

Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story from Twitter:

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