Okay, But Why Do We Need A Department of Education?

Public education is a cornerstone of our democracy. But Donald Trump and his new Secretary of Education Linda McMahon haven’t exactly made it a secret that they want to shut down the Department of Education. Phrases like “parental choice” and “school choice” might make this sound good for families, but in reality, it leaves far too many kids behind.

Before we had a Department of Ed, students who weren’t white, were disabled, or living in poverty had little access to a good education. Some, like Native American children sent to abusive “Indian schools,” were actively harmed or even died. But since its founding in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, the department has made sure that every kid has an equal opportunity to learn.

That’s what the Department of Education does. It doesn’t write curriculum for teachers or choose books for librarians - it just makes sure that every child has access to a great public education.

We know that Trump and McMahon are breaking things they don’t understand. So it’s up to us to make sure that we do — and that we share that knowledge with everyone we know.

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Transcript

Okay But Why E2: Why Do We Need A Department of Education?

CLIP from TED Talk: Public education is the place with intention where hope is possible.

Narration: Public education is a cornerstone of our democracy. It’s a fundamental part of the American Dream - that every one of us has the freedom and opportunity to create a better life for ourselves and our children.

But Donald Trump and his new Secretary of Education Linda McMahon haven’t exactly made it a secret that they want to shut down the Department of Education.

Trump clip: “How soon would you like to shut down the Department of Education?” “Oh, immediately. I think it’s a big con job.”

Narration: So you may be wondering, what’s the truth? Why do we need a department of education? 

Well, let’s start by asking this. What was public school like before we had a Department of Education?

In the first few decades of our country’s history, we had a divided education system. As Thomas Jefferson put it, there was one track for "the laboring” and one for “the learned." Wealthy families were expected to pay for their children’s education, usually through private tutors, while a few places began to offer public schools for families who couldn’t afford a private education.

It’s important to note that Black and Native American children were not included in this. Many indigenous students were sent to boarding schools, called “Indian Schools,” to be “re-educated” and erase their cultural heritage. These schools were absolutely rife with abuse and more than 3,000 children died within their walls.

Meanwhile, Black children weren’t included in the public education system either. Many states had explicit anti-literacy laws that prohibited enslaved children (what a horrible phrase that is) and often free Black children too from learning how to read. It wasn’t until after the Civil War that Black kids were allowed to attend public school. 

But that was just on paper - in practice, they were often excluded from schools and given a lower-quality education. The 1896 Supreme Court case of Plessy vs Ferguson, which gave us the infamous phrase “separate but equal,” included education too. And just like every other way that law was applied, public education may have been separate, but it was definitely not equal.

But in 1954, we got a much better Supreme Court decision in the case of Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka. In Brown vs Board, the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. But many school districts and states resisted integration, and when little Ruby Bridges walked into her first day of school at William Franz Elementary, she was surrounded by an angry white mob. And it was up to US Marshals - from the federal government - to protect her.

Ruby’s brave walk into her elementary school isn’t ancient history - it happened in 1960. Not only is Ruby still alive today, but the only teacher willing to have Ruby in her classroom, Barbara Henry, is also still alive. We are so grateful to teachers like Barbara who are dedicated to making sure that all children receive a great education.

Throughout the 60s and 70s, a number of laws were passed to improve access to public education, from the Head Start program to support children in poverty to Title IX, a law that prohibits gender discrimination in education. And in 1979, President Jimmy Carter created the Department of Education that we have today.

CLIP from Jimmy Carter: “No poor, rural, or Black person should ever have to bear the additional burden of being deprived of the opportunity of an education, a job, or simple justice.”

The purpose of the Department of Education is to make sure that all kids have access to a quality education. That's it! They don’t create curriculum, they don’t write lesson plans, they just make sure that all students get an education, regardless of race, gender, or disability.

So let’s take a look at some of the arguments against the Department of Education. First, that it’s needlessly expensive or bloated with useless bureaucrats. Last year, the department’s budget was $241 billion dollars, which does sound like a lot of money. But that’s only 2% of the federal budget. Isn’t it worth 2% of our budget to educate the next generation? And prior to this month’s layoffs, the department employed around 4,000 people – so, only about 2,000 now. Compare that to the 700,000 civilian employees in the Department of Defense.

Okay, so what are some of the other criticisms against the Department of Education? Extremist Republicans often cite Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs as the downfall of public schools, but let’s parse that for just a moment. What exactly are they against? Is it the diversity? Is it the equity? Is it the inclusion? I mean, who’s for exclusion? Besides the people who were screaming at 6-year-old Ruby Bridges.

But again, DEI curriculum isn’t up to the Department of Education! It doesn’t choose lesson plans for teachers or books for librarians. It just ensures that all students can get an equal education by providing funding and investigating claims of discrimination. The average public school receives about 13% of its funding from the Department of Ed, but that varies based on need, and some schools receive as much as 75% of their funding from the federal government. New York schools get the least amount of federal funding, about 7%, while schools in Mississippi, South Dakota and Arkansas receive the most, around 20%. And it’s important to mention that we’re focusing on K12 education in this episode, but the Department of Ed also provides grants and manages student loans for millions of college students.

So often, attacks on public education are presented as being about “choice.” “Parental choice,” “school choice.” But in practice, school vouchers and private schools don’t give real choices to families - they give schools the choice to exclude any kids they don’t want, whether that’s based on religion, race, or disability. 

And in many rural areas, there are no choices available. If a kid lives in a town with 500 people and one public school, and that school is defunded, where is that student supposed to go? Many underfunded schools in states like Missouri and Oklahoma are already only open 4 days a week because they can’t afford to pay their teachers full-time. How can those schools survive even more drastic cuts to their budget, and where are those students supposed to get their education? Sure, homeschooling is one option, but that requires a parent – and let’s be honest, it’s usually the mom – to drop out of the workforce and stay at home.

Now, none of this is to say that there aren’t real problems with public education in America. The Covid-19 pandemic in particular has led to lower test scores in both reading and math. But those problems aren’t going to be solved by closing the Department of Education. Without federal funding, many schools in low-income or rural areas couldn’t stay open. Many disabled students wouldn’t have access to special education. That is what the Department of Education does. And that is what Trump and Linda McMahon want to eliminate. 

And worse, they’re breaking things they don’t even fully understand. One of the most important things that the Department of Ed does is provide funding for IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. But in a recent interview on Fox News, Linda McMahon didn’t even know what IDEA stands for.

CLIP from Linda McMahon on Fox News

In 1970, before the Department of Ed, only one in five kids with disabilities received an education – including kids who were deaf, blind, had learning disabilities, or any other special needs. Today, IDEA makes sure that 7.3 million students have access to the services and individualized education plans they need. That’s 15% of our public school students. Are we really ready to write off 15% of our children?

So, we’ve been throwing a lot of numbers around, so let’s put a few names and faces to these statistics. 

When he was a senior in high school, Tupac Mosely’s father died and his family became homeless. Despite spending some of that year living in a tent, he continued to attend his public school in Tennessee and became valedictorian. He’s now a graduate student in Electrical Engineering at Tennessee State University. Almost half of the funding for his school district comes from the Department of Education.

Declan Marmon was born with a rare genetic disorder called Myotubular Myopathy.
Because of special education services funded by the Department of Education, Declan has been able to attend public school in Ohio and loves science and dinosaurs.

Paikea is a Native American freshman at Lewis & Clark High School in Spokane Washington. Her family members as recently as her grandfather were forced to attend boarding schools that stripped them of their culture. But at her public high school, she’s not just given a great education - she’s encouraged to celebrate her family’s heritage.

By all means, let’s continue to improve our public schools. But we cannot do that for all students without the Department of Education. So talk to your friends and neighbors, talk to the other parents at the bus stop or the school dropoff line. Let them know the truth about public education and what the Department of Ed really does.

And there’s so much you can do locally, like attend a school board meeting or organize with local parents. There are tens of thousands of school board elections coming up this year across the country, and they often come down to a few hundred votes. The more we lift up and celebrate our public schools, the more our neighbors – and politicians – will understand just how important they are.