Abolish the DOE? – It’s TIME!

Senator Mike Rounds wants to abolish the Department of Education and save taxpayers $2 billion by putting control back where it belongs – with states and parents.

At a Glance

• Sen. Mike Rounds introduced the Returning Education to Our States Act to completely eliminate the Department of Education
• The bill would save taxpayers over $2 billion by cutting federal bureaucracy while maintaining state funding
• Education funding would be managed by the Treasury Department through block grants to states
• Impact Aid would shift to Health & Human Services while the Office of Indian Education would move to the Interior Department
• Rounds argues states can manage education more efficiently without federal micromanagement

Taking Education Back from Federal Bureaucrats

In a bold move that has conservatives cheering, Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) has reintroduced legislation aimed at dismantling one of the most overreaching federal bureaucracies in America. The Returning Education to Our States Act would completely abolish the Department of Education, a long-held dream for those who believe educational decisions should be made at the local level, not by unelected bureaucrats in Washington who wouldn’t know your child’s needs if they tripped over them. The South Dakota Republican’s plan represents a direct challenge to decades of increasing federal control over what our children learn and how they learn it.

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For too long, the federal education department has been a bottomless money pit that produces declining results while pushing radical ideologies in classrooms. Rounds’ legislation doesn’t just eliminate a bloated bureaucracy – it offers a thoughtful plan for maintaining necessary functions while returning primary control where it belongs: with states, local communities, and most importantly, parents. This is exactly the kind of common-sense governance that Americans are desperate for in these times of runaway federal overreach.

Saving Billions While Preserving Education Funding

One of the most compelling aspects of Rounds’ proposal is the estimated $2 billion in taxpayer savings achieved simply by cutting out the middleman – the federal Department of Education itself. The beauty of the plan is that it accomplishes this without reducing actual education funding to states. Instead, the Treasury Department would provide block grants directly to states for elementary, secondary, and technical education. This streamlined approach cuts out layers of bureaucracy that have been micromanaging local schools while wasting billions of dollars that could be going to actual education.

“States still get the money. There’s no cut in it, but there is a savings to the taxpayer, about $2 billion a little over $2 billion just in bureaucracy at the federal level. Some of that money could go back to the states to assist in the distribution of the funds, or it can come back to the taxpayers in terms of a reduction in the cost of education.” – Sen. Mike Rounds (R) South Dakota.

This approach demonstrates what true fiscal conservatism looks like – not slashing necessary services, but rather eliminating wasteful bureaucratic layers that add cost without value. The bill maintains important programs like Impact Aid and the Office of Indian Education by moving them to more appropriate departments like Health & Human Services and Interior. It’s the kind of thoughtful restructuring that acknowledges the legitimate role of government while rejecting unnecessary centralization and waste.

Putting Parents and Communities Back in Charge

The deeper principle at stake here is who should control education in America. Should it be distant federal bureaucrats with their one-size-fits-all mandates and ideological agendas? Or should it be the states, communities, and parents who actually know their children and have their best interests at heart? Senator Rounds clearly believes in the latter, and any parent who’s watched in horror as radical gender ideology, critical race theory, and other divisive concepts have infiltrated classrooms should agree.

The Department of Education has become a command center for implementing leftist agendas in schools nationwide. By dissolving this bureaucratic behemoth, Rounds’ legislation would empower states to create educational systems that reflect their values and priorities. Red states could prioritize academic excellence, civic education, and traditional values, while blue states would be free to experiment with whatever progressive educational theories catch their fancy. That’s how federalism is supposed to work – letting states be laboratories of democracy rather than forcing everyone into the same failing system.

A Return to Constitutional Governance

Let’s not forget that the Department of Education is a relatively recent creation, established in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter as a political payoff to teachers’ unions. Before its existence, America built the greatest education system in the world. Since its creation, we’ve seen plummeting test scores, increasing costs, and the transformation of schools from institutions of learning to centers of indoctrination. Senator Rounds’ proposal isn’t radical – it’s a return to the constitutional principle that education is primarily a state and local responsibility.

Washington bureaucrats have had over four decades to prove they can improve American education, and they’ve failed spectacularly. It’s time to admit that the Department of Education experiment has been a disaster and return control to those closest to students. Senator Rounds deserves credit for having the courage to challenge one of Washington’s sacred cows and propose a solution that would save money, reduce federal overreach, and potentially revolutionize American education by putting parents and communities back in charge where they belong.