Dept. of Ed. could be in its last days
Conservatives have called for the abolition of the United States Department of Education (DOE) for many years – an idea that one expert on education believes is something that could happen in the near future.
For some time, Neal McCluskey, who serves as the Associate Director with the Cato Institute’s Center of Education Freedom, has highlighted the fact that the existence of a Department of Education is not supported by the U.S. Constitution.
With the Trump administration now in power, McCluskey is confident that there are opportunities for discussing the future of the DOE.
“But it seems like now, we could start to have an honest discussion about – with people on the Left and the Right – well … what are the dangers of the Department of Education and what good does it do?” the director posed. “And maybe we should seriously talk about downsizing it – or eliminating it.”
He points out that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has gone so far as to introduce a bill that simply states: “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2018.”
“I wouldn’t put my money on the department disappearing in 2018,” McClusky conceded. “But I certainly think we can make some real progress in having a national discussion about it. And, really important is, the Massie bill certainly sends a great message [that] there are people in Congress who think the Department of Education shouldn’t be there.”
The DOE was signed into law by former President Jimmy Carter on October 17, 1979.
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