Make the Education Department Work for Parents, Not Bureaucrats | Opinion

Over the past several weeks, liberal politicians and media figures have exhausted themselves wailing and gnashing their teeth over cuts, cancellations, and terminations at the Department of Education. Curiously, they—much like Senate Democrats during Secretary Linda McMahon’s confirmation hearing—seem to be primarily concerned with the effect that the department’s restructuring might have on career bureaucrats and their federally funded pensions, rather than the children the agency was ostensibly designed to serve.

Certainly, this reaction must mean that the status quo has been a rousing success—and that American schoolchildren are thriving, both academically and emotionally. Right?

Alas, nothing could be further from the truth. Underperforming students, worsening mental health, and increasing incidents of violence have become all too common at American schools. Instead of nurturing free-thinking, well-rounded, resilient youth, today’s educational institutions manipulate the country’s youngest citizens into political pawns, little more than child soldiers in a larger war on traditional values.

Woke teachers’ unions have infected classrooms with radical gender ideology, burdened teachers and staff with DEI policies, and deliberately excluded parents from notification and informed consent concerning the most intimate details of their children’s lives. School-sponsored protocols and services include “reproductive care” in the form of on-campus Planned Parenthood clinics and “gender affirming” counseling that conceals a student’s gender identity from their parents.

Over the past four years, parents grew accustomed to being stripped of their rights when it came to the education of their children. The Biden-Harris administration targeted concerned parents speaking up at school board meetings while pandering to corrupt unions that put their own political and financial interests above the interests of students.

This deterioration of America’s schools spurred parents to pay attention to what was taking place in classrooms, and to reassert their right to steward their children’s education and guard their physical, emotional, and intellectual growth and well being.

Now, finally, parents have an ally in the White House—rather than an administration working hand in glove with activist organizations to smear them and chill their political participation.

During the 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump committed to restoring the true purpose of Title IX—the protection of girls and women—and to cut federal funding from public institutions that push critical race theory and inappropriate sexual and political content onto children.

The first 50 days of the new administration have felt a little bit like drinking from a fire hose—but the Trump White House has delivered on its pledges and more. In the words of Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, “promises made, promises kept.”

At the heart of President Trump’s educational policy is respect for the fundamental rights of parents: to know what their children are being taught and to decide which type of educational environment is best for them.

Since the founding of the Department of Education in 1979, the country’s schools have witnessed a spectacular fall from grace; costs have gone through the roof, while the quality of education has dropped precipitously. As Will Rogers famously said, “if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging”—and it’s hard to argue that the American education system is in anything but a deep, deep hole.

As it turns out, the very people responsible for running the show weren’t very good at their jobs. They prioritized activists, bureaucrats, and unions over the needs of students and children. Accordingly, the fact that the very people who presided over such spectacular failure have been removed from the equation (and that taxpayers won’t be underwriting such a boondoggle) is a net positive for the country. For defenders of the status quo to argue otherwise raises an important question—whose team are they on, anyway?

Exit polling showed that parents with minor children swung hard for President Trump in November. His administration is now reorienting the country’s educational system to serve their needs, rather than bureaucrats’ needs. His policies are finally putting students first, equipping them with the tools necessary to be well-functioning, flourishing individuals—and not a moment too soon.

Nicki Neily is President of Parents Defending Education.

The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.