Reality check about whether it's even possible to close down the DoE. Just because Trump says he's going to wave his dictator wand and shut down the DoE, does not mean that's how things will work. This is just one more "promise" Trump has pulled out of his ass which will not come true.

"Closing the agency would require congressional action, people in both parties agree, and likely require a supermajority of 60 votes in the Senate as long as filibuster rules remain in place. Politically, this would be difficult if not impossible, with opposition from Democrats and likely some Republicans. A 2023 vote in the House to abolish the department, considered as an amendment to a parents’ rights bill, failed. It garnered 161 yes votes, but 60 Republicans joined every Democrat in voting no."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/10/24/trump-republicans-education-department-shut-down/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Research on what works, grants to implement effective programs

That does not sound inherently governmental. Maybe it should be a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) like Oakridge or the SEI.

??? That is most of what government does, is dispense and manage grants and contracts to the consulting firms who oversee the implementation. When Reagan "cut government" all he did was create an outsource mechanism that made our "government smaller" but booned a huge consulting industry that makes government many times less effective and many times more expensive. If we really wanted to cut government spending, we would go back to the way it was in the 1970's and let the government hire more people to do the actual work and stop outsourcing to recent college grads being billed out at $250,000 a year but being paid $80,000 a year for $25,000 of value.

Research on what works is specifically what I’m talking about. Government is not great at that — hence the FFRDCs.

Dept of Ed oversees funding of education, financial aid programs, collects data and dissemination of research, prohibits discrimination and ensures equal access. There should be national standards that tries to equalize education across the states.

What proposals has Kamala put forward regarding the Department of Education ?

What is her plan?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Research on what works, grants to implement effective programs

Do you mean Lucy Calkins, for example?

The discredited Calkins reading method was developed and initially adopted (including here in the DC area), based on grant-funded “research.”

Guess who provided Lucy Calkins with that grant money.

By every metric American kids have fallen far behind their peers around the world since the ED was created. From an educational perspective it’s been an unmitigated disaster. It’s been great for the unions though.

I really thought I'd see some arguments in this thread for keeping the Dept. of Ed. open. Surprised I haven't.

Instinctively I'm for closing it, because instinctively I'm for less bureaucracy, but I wanted to see why I was wrong.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Research on what works, grants to implement effective programs

That does not sound inherently governmental. Maybe it should be a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) like Oakridge or the SEI.

??? That is most of what government does, is dispense and manage grants and contracts to the consulting firms who oversee the implementation. When Reagan "cut government" all he did was create an outsource mechanism that made our "government smaller" but booned a huge consulting industry that makes government many times less effective and many times more expensive. If we really wanted to cut government spending, we would go back to the way it was in the 1970's and let the government hire more people to do the actual work and stop outsourcing to recent college grads being billed out at $250,000 a year but being paid $80,000 a year for $25,000 of value.

Anonymous wrote:Research on what works, grants to implement effective programs

I have a friend who has worked at the Education Dept for many years working on grants. I can’t be more specific bc I don’t want to out them. They’ve told me for years essentially how incompetent their non- political bosses are and how much of a waste of taxpayer money their job entails, particularly under this administration. They say under this administration they have more money their required to give away in grants than the schools who get the money even know what to legitimately do with.

Put those functions that must remain in HHS for now and work to return policy and regulations to the states. Current administration has made a mockery of Title IX.

Anonymous wrote:Research on what works, grants to implement effective programs

Do you mean Lucy Calkins, for example?

Most education funding is state and local, but not all. The Department of Education distributes the funding that isn't, develops the regulations around the parts of education law that are federal, like the IDEA, and investigates violations of non-discrimination laws like Title IX. I'm a special education lawyer and I work with Department of Education regulations and policies every day.

Importantly, "closing" the Department of Education doesn't remove any of those functions, without a major overhaul of how federal law works. Someone still needs to investigate Title IX violations and offer IDEA guidance, it'll just be someone in another agency that's now called Health, Human Services (and Education) or something.

Anonymous wrote:Research on what works, grants to implement effective programs

That does not sound inherently governmental. Maybe it should be a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) like Oakridge or the SEI.

Research on what works, grants to implement effective programs

This is one of Trump’s ideas that sparks outrage. And I’m 100% not voting for Trump (I’m about to go out running with my Harris hat) BUT I have long wondered what the Department of Education does since schools are administered and funded locally and states oversee the establishment of minimal standards and help even out funding for schools in lower income areas. The washington post had an article on this topic this morning but they were light on what exactly would be lost without the department so I am looking for insights here. Curious! What actually happens in the huge building in Washington DC?