Reply to Dismantling of the Dept of ED and other plans

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[quote=Anonymous]This issue came up in the political forum as well, but there's no reason to worry about the dismantling of the Department of ED as a federal cabinet agency. Regardless of what the President says he will not be able to eliminate the Department of Education as a cabinet level agency for three primary reasons.

1. Most importantly, the President does not have the votes in Congress.  Last year, during the debate on the Parents Bill of Rights Act, Representative Massie offered an amendment to eliminate the Department that failed.  60 Republicans voted against it.

This is an evergreen issue conservatives have brought up since Reagan and it has failed repeatedly. The President just does not have the votes in the House or Senate, just like he didn’t during his previous term when he said he would do the same thing.

2. He needs to hire both a Secretary of Education and appoint Schedule C staff that share his vision.  No two term Republican has ever achieved this feat.  His previous Secretary did not have the technical ability or aptitude to structure such an initiative.  During his last term the President appointed several political staff who did not share this vision and some actively worked against it.  His daughter was influential in the education and workforce space.  She recommended Democrats to key positions (e.g., number 2 position in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education) and other Republicans who did not necessarily agree with the Administration.  In fact, Ivanka Trump used her influence to maintain or expand the role of government in certain domains administered by the Department.

While it’s true the President’s Republican children (e.g., Don Jr.) are now more involved than in the past, it would still be a challenge to staff all the Department’s politicals with 100% Trump acolytes.

3. In terms of conservative education prioritization, cultural or school choice issues are more popular than fighting to restructure a federal cabinet agency.  Looking at models such as the one in Florida, it’s far more likely that Trump Education appointees would focus on cultural or school choice issues vs. an agency restructure.  Furthermore, given the short timeframe, the President can’t do both. He would need a functioning Department of Education to implement his cultural and school choice education priorities.

Finally, while it’s possible the new Administration could achieve 1 or 2 of these 3 elements, they would need all 3 to work together in perfect harmony for there to be any chance of an agency restructure to happen successfully.  While there are many education issues to be considered about, the elimination of the Department of Education as a federal cabinet agency is not one of them.  Trump can’t get it done no matter what he says. The mathematical probability that he can achieve this objective is as close to zero as one can get in a field that isn’t an exact science.  Let’s focus on engaging on education issues that have a chance to become reality.    
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