Rep. Massie Introduces Eight Word Bill to Eliminate the US Dept. of Education

ONE SENTENCE BILL WOULD ABOLISH DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BY 2019

Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) Tuesday introduced H.R. 899, a bill to abolish the federal Department of Education. The bill, which is one sentence long, states, “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2018.”

President Carter signed legislation to establish the Department of Education in 1979, imposing a new controlling agency we had gotten along quite well without for more than 200 years.

While on the campaign trail in 1980, Ronald Reagan recommended that the Department of Education be abolished, but in 1985 he abandoned due to major opposition from Congress.

In a press release, Massie stressed that we should leave education up to parents, teachers, and local leaders:

“Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development. States and local communities are best positioned to shape curricula that meet the needs of their students. Schools should be accountable. Parents have the right to choose the most appropriate educational opportunity for their children, including home school, public school, or private school.”

“For years, I have advocated returning education policy to where it belongs – the state and local level,” said Rep. Walter Jones, an original co-sponsor. “D.C. bureaucrats cannot begin to understand the needs of schools and its students on an individual basis. It is time that we get the feds out of the classroom, and terminate the Department of Education.”

“I’ve always been a proponent of empowering parents, teachers and local school boards who best know our children and their needs,” said Rep. Raul Labrador, another original co-sponsor. “Eliminating the U.S. Department of Education is the most important step we in Congress can take in returning decision making to the local level.”

“Education of our students should lie primarily with parents, teachers, and state and local officials who know how to meet their individual needs best,” said freshman Rep. Andy Biggs. “Since its inception, the Department of Education has grown into an unrecognizable federal beast, and its policies have helped foster Common Core across the country. It is time the one-size-fits-all approach by the federal government is ended and authority is returned to the local level.”

The bill was introduced just hours before school choice advocate Betsy DeVos became the newest U.S. secretary of education. Outrage from the left erupted on social media after both of these events rolled out. This bill could be the perfect opportunity to finally achieve what President Reagan started in the early 1980s, abolish the Department of Education and return control to the states, local school boards and parents.

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