I took office as secretary of Education with a mission unlike any of my predecessors: to oversee the responsible and permanent closure of the very department I now lead. This is not a routine mission. It is a transformation, driven by the clear will of the American people to return education to the states — and the decisive election of President Donald Trump.
This is not my first experience leading a federal agency. In Trump’s first term, I was at the helm of the Small Business Administration, an agency established in the 1950s to support entrepreneurial startups and privately owned companies.
Both on my watch and in years previous, the SBA delivered measurable success for job creators and workers. Small businesses have doubled in number since 1980, creating two-thirds of all new jobs in the past 25 years. That is why the SBA enjoys bipartisan support in Congress and a broad popular mandate.
DEMOCRAT-LED STATES SUE THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT PURGE
Education is the exact opposite story.
Since the Department of Education opened its doors in 1980, it has overseen an era of stagnation and decline in student achievement. Despite more than a trillion dollars in federal spending, test scores have flatlined and millions of students remain stuck in failing government-run schools.
Rather than providing real solutions, the department has too often prioritized federal micromanagement instead of support for meaningful learning. It has perpetually demanded budget increases beyond what Congress has allocated — all without demonstrating a return on investment in the form of improved student learning outcomes.
Yet for all the federal government’s spending, few teachers, students or parents can pinpoint just how the department’s work benefits them. Before Trump’s directive for federal employees to return to the office, many department staff weren’t even showing up to the office, some having moved hundreds of miles from their duty stations. Federal oversight is deeply unpopular across the 50 states; a full fourth of teachers cite workplace rules as a major reason they leave the profession.
Trump has responded with a decisive solution. In an executive order entitled “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities,” he has directed me to dismantle this ineffective bureaucracy and restore control over education to states and parents.
Our mandate is twofold: (1) to plan, in coordination with Congress, for eliminating or relocating the functions and operations of the Department of Education, and (2) to ensure that no taxpayer money flows to DEI programs or institutions that embrace DEI.
Abolishing the department will not happen tomorrow. But we can move in that direction immediately by revising guidance documents and grant competitions to advance the president’s vision of returning education authority to state and local education leaders.
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As we begin complying with this executive order, we can also dismantle the last administration’s DEI agenda and reorient civil rights enforcement so that we are protecting all students from harassment and discrimination, including Jewish students studying on elite campuses and female athletes on the field and in the locker room.
Fundamental to this new vision are solid convictions about our work and our leadership role. K-12 education is the responsibility of parents, first and foremost, and an investment in their children’s future.
Parents should be able to decide what school their children attend, ensure the curriculum is free from political agendas, and choose a school that protects their children’s safety and well-being. Students should be able to expect an education that covers the basics with excellence – teaching math, reading and civics rooted in an honest teaching of American history. When they graduate from high school, they should be prepared to enter college or workforce education programs that will provide them with well-paying jobs and fulfilling careers.
As we execute President Trump’s directive, we will systematically unwind unnecessary regulations and prepare to reassign the department’s other functions to the states or other agencies – including funding programs for states to support low-income students and learners with special needs, the distribution of student financial aid, civil rights enforcement and data collection. We will end this system that has over-promised and under-delivered – and empower local education leaders to build something much better in its place.
No federal agency of this size has ever been eliminated before. But this is a necessary correction, one that will ultimately free our schools from Washington’s grip and restore freedom and innovation in education. My responsibility as secretary is to lead this effort transparently by respecting the will of the American people and returning education back to the states.
