The Department of Education was created to improve American education. Yet, for decades, this bloated federal bureaucracy has been vacuuming up taxpayer dollars. With little to show for it. American students continue to fall behind their international peers in math, science, and reading, while the education establishment pushes woke gender ideology and critical race theory instead of actual education.

But don’t worry about those plummeting test scores! The Department of Education has been too busy hiring diversity consultants and drafting policies that undermine parental authority.

Meanwhile, the agency’s budget has ballooned to over $80 billion annually while math proficiency among eighth graders has dropped to just 26%, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. That’s a whole lot of cash for an agency that’s managed to make American education worse, not better, since its creation in 1979.

Ronald Reagan promised to get rid of the Department of Education multiple times in the 1980s, but nothing ever came to fruition. So 47 is putting action to the words.

Thankfully, President Trump is making good on his campaign promise to shut this failed experiment down. Education Secretary Linda McMahon confirmed Tuesday that recent mass layoffs within the Department of Education are just the beginning of dismantling the agency entirely.

Cleaning House: McMahon’s Bureaucracy Bulldozer

In an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, McMahon didn’t mince words about the administration’s intentions. When asked if the decision to lay off nearly half of the department’s workforce was part of a broader plan for a “total shutdown” of the agency, McMahon’s response was crystal clear.

From ‘The Post Millennial’:

“Yes…actually, it is,” she responded. “That was the president’s mandate. His directive to me clearly is to shut down the Department of Education.”

The department has already laid off 1,315 of its nearly 4,000 employees who were deemed “redundant or not necessary for the functioning of the department,” according to the New York Post. This comes after nearly 600 staffers previously left the agency after accepting buyouts offered by the administration.

“What we did today was to take the first step of eliminating what I think is bureaucratic bloat,” McMahon explained, making it clear that this is just the opening salvo in fulfilling Trump’s promise to return education decisions to where they belong – with states and parents.

Power to the Parents, Federal Bureaucrats Get Detention

While critics like American Federation of Teachers leader Randi Weingarten are clutching their pearls and claiming the administration is “getting rid of education” and “taking opportunities away from kids,” McMahon swiftly set the record straight.

“Well, clearly we’re not taking away education,” McMahon fired back. “The president never said that. He’s taking the bureaucracy out of education so that more money flows to the states.”

This is the fundamental difference in philosophy that has conservatives cheering and education bureaucrats trembling. For too long, unelected officials in Washington have dictated how local schools should operate, imposing one-size-fits-all solutions on diverse communities across America. Trump’s approach recognizes that parents and local communities know what’s best for their children – not distant bureaucrats who couldn’t find their school district on a map.

Making Education Great Again: Local Knowledge Beats Beltway Theories

Despite the dramatic personnel cuts, McMahon assured Americans that essential functions will continue uninterrupted. “We wanted to make sure that we kept all of the right people, the good people, to make sure that the outward-facing programs, the grants, the appropriations that come from Congress, all of that are being met and none of that’s going to fall through the cracks,” McMahon explained.

The remaining 2,000 staff members will ensure that funding continues to flow to schools while the administration works with Congress on the formal elimination of the department. This measured approach demonstrates that, contrary to hysterical claims from the left, this isn’t about destroying education – it’s about rebuilding it from the ground up with proper priorities.

“Better education is closest to the kids, with parents, with the local superintendents, with local school boards,” McMahon noted. “I think we’ll see our scores go up with our students when we can educate them with parental input as well.”

And that’s really what this is all about. After years of declining performance under federal micromanagement, it’s time to try something that actually works – letting parents and communities take back control of their children’s education. The days of Washington bureaucrats deciding what’s best for kids in Topeka or Tucson are coming to an end. This isn’t just a win for fiscal responsibility; it’s a victory for the constitutional principle that powers not explicitly granted to the federal government belong to the states and to the people.

Key Takeaways:

• The Department of Education has laid off nearly half its workforce as the first step toward completely dismantling the agency.
• Secretary McMahon confirmed this fulfills President Trump’s campaign promise to shut down the department and return education control to states.
• Critical education funding and programs will continue uninterrupted while “bureaucratic bloat” is eliminated.

Sources: The Post Millennial, Fox News