this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2023
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Multiple Republican presidential candidates made it clear at this week’s debate that the Department of Education is in danger if they are elected.

“Let’s shut down the head of the snake, the Department of Education,” Vivek Ramaswamy said. “Take that $80 billion, put it in the hands of parents across this country.”

Conservatives see the department, which has more than 4,400 employees and in its current form dates back to 1979 after first being established in 1867, as a prime example of Washington’s meddling in Americans’ lives. The time has come to “shut down the Federal Department of Education,” former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday.

But what would it mean to actually shutter the massive agency?

How could the department be eliminated?

Killing the Department of Education (DOE) would be easier said than done.

Conservatives have said since the creation of the department they want to get rid of it. From President Ronald Reagan and his Education secretary to President Trump and his own, Republicans have decried the department’s existence but failed to abolish it.

That is because the decision to do so is not only up to the president and would have to go through Congress.

“There would have to be some legislation to specifically outline this, but I do think it would need to have the support of the executive branch and, obviously, this is a Cabinet-level agency, so I think having the president — would have to take a leadership role and help to make sure that the proposal is carefully crafted,” said Jonathan Butcher, the Will Skillman senior research fellow in education policy at The Heritage Foundation, which supports nixing the DOE.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) proposed such legislation in 2021 and reintroduced it earlier this year.

“Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development,” Massie said two years ago. “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.”

DOE did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

DOE’s duties would be absorbed by other federal agencies

DOE has an enormous number of responsibilities, including handling student loans, investigating complaints against schools and tracking education progress across the country.

None of the 2024 candidates during Wednesday’s debate detailed how they would handle eliminating it, but conservatives have longed to see many of its tasks either completely eliminated or absorbed into other departments.

“For example, the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education. I think that any duplicate responsibilities that it shares with the Department of Justice should be eliminated, and then the rest of that office should go to the Department of Justice,” Butcher said.

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[–] [email protected] 142 points 1 year ago

The GOP is a terrorist organization.

[–] [email protected] 106 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Got to make these people as dumb as possible so they'll believe anything

[–] Riccosuave 51 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That plan is clearly working flawlessly in many parts of this country. There are more people alive today that believe in mythological deities, or that the earth is flat than at any other point in human history.

By population percentage we we seem going in the right direction, but the same old bullshit continues to be effective at pulling the wool over the eyes of the average rubes who are coopted by religion or social dogma before education can get to them.

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[–] [email protected] 94 points 1 year ago (9 children)

They want private schools, which basically means not everyone will actually go to school if this happens.

[–] BrianTheeBiscuiteer 58 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Or parents will go into debt to put their kids through K-12.

[–] miraclerandy 48 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Or they put their kids in a cheap “school” without regulations and can be abused or whatever while the parents have to go to work

Or be home schooled

Or they have to go into the labor force early

All of these are terrible options

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[–] BURN 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

K-12? It’ll be K-6 and into the workforce the way they’re trying to go

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[–] Cerbero 29 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Which is what they prefer. An easily manipulated population.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

And legalized child labor.

[–] afraid_of_zombies 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Also means all the antidiscrimination rules no longer apply. The situation is right now a private religious school can pretty much hire and fire whomever they want for whatever reason. And this also kills tenure, which I am not sure is a system worth saving but at the same time I don't trust the GOP to replace it with something better.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

I assume they want the states to have full autonomy over their education for starters. RIP kids in the south, they'll never even be taught how badly they've been screwed.

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[–] affiliate 73 points 1 year ago (3 children)

In a report from The Heritage Foundation back in 2020, the group estimated billions would be saved …

in a better world, it wouldn’t matter what the heritage foundation thinks. they’re a conservative propaganda machine that pushes climate change denial, transphobia, and voter fraud claims. it’s dishonest reporting to cite them without mentioning their track record and credibility.

[–] Furbag 40 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Someone should tell the Heritage Foundation that we could save hundreds of billions of tax dollars per year if we just completely eliminated the Defense department. I mean, who cares about consequences when you have all those S A V I N G S, am I right?

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[–] jeffw 17 points 1 year ago

Totally agree. It’s a Koch-funded propaganda machine.

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[–] LEDZeppelin 71 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

DOE’s duties will be absorbed by other departments

Name one. The real problem is this mainstream media let’s these assholes run with such irresponsible statements.

[–] charles 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Then if they name one, ask them how much it would cost to reorg and run over there. Anything more than "free" is already too much, according to them.

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[–] newthrowaway20 64 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Just another thing the Republicans want to eliminate without any forethought or planning for what comes after. And just like their 'repeal' of ACA, they will cry for years that this needs to happen, and they've got a plan to handle it. Only to have it all blown up in their faces once they actually have the opportunity to make it happen.

The Republican party is a dog chasing a car. If it ever catches the car, they'll fuckin get run over.

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[–] mycroft 55 points 1 year ago

It will look like that scientific knowledge survey they did in subsaharan africa. People won't know that the earth orbits around the sun.

This isn't hyperbole, they won't teach science if they can avoid it.

I got to experience evangelical science indoctrination as a child, and they literally do not want science taught. It contradicts the pop up books.

[–] UncleGrandPa 50 points 1 year ago (3 children)

One of the first acts a burgeoning Fascist State takes

is to close the Schools and Universities

Happens every time

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[–] Hazdaz 47 points 1 year ago

Continuation of their Starve the Beast policies that they've been pushing for some 4 decades now.

In short, they cut funding for a department because they claim it is too expensive. There is a limit to how much can be cut before services suffer. That is true for anything - workers don't work for free, and equipment and supplies cost money. So then after they cut funding, they then declare that the department isn't meeting their goals and should be cut. They are setting up these departments to fail and then use that excuse to try to eliminate them altogether. The latest push is to kill the Department of Education, but over the years Republicans have been playing this game with the Post Office, the IRS, Amtrak, the EPA and a bunch of other "unnecessary" departments.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast

Be educated in what these clowns are trying to do because unlike the Left which has an attention plan of a goldfish, these conservatives play the long-game. They have been pushing these awful ideas since Reagan (and some even before that).

They want government to fail and create chaos and they actively try to push polices that will do it.

[–] AA5B 46 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

This is definitely one of those places where it’s easy to get frustrated with rural conservative voters, voting against their own best interests.

Kids in a state like mine already have a huge advantage because we value education and we fund it better. We also can afford to do so.

Conservative states already have less opportunity for their kids, by interfering and limiting their education. Those kids are already disadvantaged because many areas can’t afford adequate funding. I understand authoritarian politicians wanting power and control, but how can parent vote for limiting their kids’ future like that. Department of Education helps fund those schools, while also requiring equal opportunity and requires it be an actual education. Again, I understand politicians spreading divisiveness and outrage to control the populace, but how do parents firstly fall for the BS, and secondly vote against accepting “free” funding to improve their kids’ education?

DoE is one of those “transfer of wealth” programs where blue states pay more, and red states take more. If I don’t mind paying extra to help those disadvantaged, why do they not want to accept more money to invest in their kids’ future. Someone needs to talk to them about “family values”

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[–] pbbananaman 44 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Take $80 billion, divide by the number of households in US with children ~ 30 million. That’s about $2700. Anyone who’s a parent knows that doesn’t go far at all in terms of education expenses. Good luck privatizing education and funding it out pocket for $3k/yr. Complete idiots.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

Generous of you to assume they'd redirect that money to anyone else but themselves and their cronies.

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[–] Etterra 42 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You can't indoctrinate kids nearly as easily in public schools, and there's no way to turn a profit on them. By contrast, a solid public education makes kids more likely to grow up and vote Democrat. The GOP especially today knows that it can't win legitimately; rage baiting and cheating are their only remaining strategies.

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 year ago (7 children)

At this point I really have to wonder if Republicans even want a federal level. I mean to me it looks like they are trying to disassemble the USA.

[–] jeffw 33 points 1 year ago

Hmm… rural southern voters wanting to disassemble the USA… I feel like I’ve heard this one before?

[–] FooBarrington 13 points 1 year ago (11 children)

They want the largest amount of control at the highest level. If the federal level doesn't work, they'll dismantle it as far as possible and instead reign at the state level.

That's also why they are against "big government" - it's always the government above their highest one that's problematic. Never the one they are at.

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[–] Pregnenolone 39 points 1 year ago

“Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development,”

So they say...

[–] YoBuckStopsHere 36 points 1 year ago

Conservatives have established a series of charter schools designed to eliminate liberal thinking and to embrace Conservative Religious values (hate, discrimination, and conformity).

[–] Treczoks 28 points 1 year ago (3 children)

“Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development,”

I think politicians instead of professionals being in charge of intellectual and moral development of children would be the worse choice. Like letting the fox guarding the hen house.

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[–] bamfic 27 points 1 year ago (11 children)

I was in Junior High when Pink Floyd's The Wall came out.

Some dipshit scrawled 'WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCTION" on a desk in the library. Spelled like that.

I wrote under it "Yes, you do.",

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think you all need to go ahead and have that second Civil War, clear out the dead wood.

[–] reagansrottencorpse 13 points 1 year ago

They are basically begging for it

[–] TwoGems 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

They wanna make the Usa into North Korea where you can only learn how wonderful dear leader is

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[–] tallwookie 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

eh that's dumb. 99% of parents don't have time to raise children properly, let alone instruct them.

setting static budgeting caps is a really good idea though

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

The American Taliban

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (3 children)

For reference, $80b/year is about an order of magnitude less than what the US spends on the military. Suddenly a lot of the ways America ... is... kind of makes sense.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

Afghanistan

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