When Kinky Friedman ran for Texas governor in 2006, he had a compelling bumper-sticker slogan. “Kinky Friedman for Governor. Why the Hell Not?”
I discovered Kinky’s message persuasive and voted for him within the Texa major.
I really feel the identical about President Trump’s marketing campaign promise to close down the U.S. Division of Training. Why the hell not?
Critics warn that closing DOE would imply the elimination of the Division’s Workplace of Civil Rights (OCR), which investigates discrimination claims towards faculties and faculties. With out OCR, they warn, we’re more likely to see an uptick in race and intercourse discrimination and the harassment of homosexual and transgender college students on school campuses.
I reject that argument.
OCR’s investigatory and enforcement authority has lengthy been a menace hanging over U.S. increased training. Nonetheless, it hasn’t prevented the emergence of racism and antisemitism on the universities –particularly elite establishments like Harvard and Columbia. Actually, faculties are displaying extra bigotry than at any time for the reason that McCarthy period.
DOE’s defenders additionally level out that the Division must administer the federal pupil mortgage program and distribute school loans.
I reject that argument as effectively.
DOE has finished a horrible job overseeing the coed mortgage program. The upper training neighborhood has complained for over a decade that the federal pupil assist utility kind (generally known as the FAFSA) was unduly cumbersome and complex for college kids and their mother and father to fill out. In 2020, Congress handed the FAFSA Simplification Act, directing DOE to create a less complicated monetary assist kind.
DOE tackled the problem however did not launch the newly designed kind till December 30, 2023, three months after college students wanted it. Consequently, the faculty admission course of was delayed all around the U.S., with the Authorities Accountability Workplace (GAO) discovering that:
Delays, glitches, and different points led to a 9% decline in submitted FAFSA purposes amongst first-time candidates and an total decline of about 432,000 purposes as of the tip of August [2024].
After all one mistake, even a large screwup just like the FAFSA debacle, shouldn’t be a justification by itself for closing a federal company. Nonetheless, over time, DOE has proven itself unable to correctly monitor the venal for-profit school trade or to rein in school prices, which have gone up 12 months after 12 months partly because of large infusions of federal money.
I agree with the Trump administration that training is a state duty that shouldn’t be overregulated or managed by the federal authorities.
If Trump manages to shut down DOE, I do not assume its disappearance will adversely have an effect on American training. Free of onerous federal rules, the universities may even reduce the price of tuition.
Now, that might be a miracle.
