“Great!” I enthused. “He’s downsizing the federal footprint, pushing back on DEI, combating antisemitism, taking on campus craziness, and championing school choice. It’s remarkable.”
“Sounds promising,” she said.
“Yep,” I said. “If you’re a conservative, it’s like a sunny morning after four years of rain. We’re getting back to commonsense principles, empowering states and reining in government.”
She paused. “But I just heard the other day that the president is creating a federal task force to get AI into classrooms. And I know he sent some letter to Harvard telling them to make a whole bunch of changes. That doesn’t sound like it’s getting Washington out of education.”
“Well, you’re mixing up apples and oranges,” I said. “You see, someone has to make sure our students are prepared for a world with AI. Same with his new executive orders on apprenticeships or school discipline—there are times when we need the federal government to step up and lead. As for Harvard, it failed to address antisemitism, so the president had to crack down.”
“But that makes it sound like you want Washington to be pretty active in education,” she said. “I’m confused, because I thought you just said that the president wanted to downsize the federal role. I mean, doesn’t he want to abolish the Department of Education?”
“Not ‘abolish,’ he wants to ‘dismantle’ it,” I said. “The president’s executive order about it suggests the Secretary of Education keep working on that. He wants to break the department into pieces and then send those to other agencies.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because the Department has become a one-stop shop for the teachers unions, colleges, and left-wing interest groups. This will offer a fresh start. Plus, the president is trying to empower the states and shrink the federal role.”
“I get that. But it seems dangerous to get rid of the Department of Education when there are students who have special needs, like my niece, or need Pell Grants to pay for college. Whether it’s ‘abolishing’ or ‘dismantling,’ my concern is that those dollars will go away,” she said.
“Nope, that’s just not so,” I said. “They’re not cutting those programs. All those funds will still be going out—the president wants Congress to keep that all steady. He’s just saying the money will be managed from another agency, like the Department of Health and Human Services.”
“Well, in that case, I don’t get why it’s so important to ‘dismantle’ the Department of Education,” she said.
I sighed. Clearly, she just didn’t get it. “Look, the president is driving big changes. That’s what you should focus on. For instance, he’s cut the number of bureaucrats at the Department of Education by almost half,” I said.
“Now that’s impressive!” she said. “I’ll bet that’s a huge savings on the federal budget for education, right?”
“It’s a little hard to be sure,” I admitted. “I mean, we don’t have any real numbers from the federal government. But I’ve guessed that the savings are probably around $400 million.”
“So, what’s that? Like a 25 percent cut in what Washington spends on education?” she asked.
“Umm, it’s closer to half a percent,” I said.
I saw her eyes widen in the rearview mirror. “Wait, what?” she said. “One-half of one percent?”
