Oklahoma lawmakers on board with abolishing the Department of Education

Oklahoma lawmakers support eliminating the Department of Education, after President-elect Donald Trump promised to do away with the department during the campaign. 

“I personally believe that we should have more of our education at the state level as opposed to Washington, D.C.,” Republican Policy Committee Chair-elect and Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern said. “This has been something that goes all the way back to Ronald Reagan so this is not a mystery where Republicans are. Let our parents, and our teachers, and our administrators do their job.” 

“Just maybe the one size fits all is limiting us,” Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., said. “You don’t have innovation and ingenuity when you have one model.” 

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He added that states should have complete control over education.

Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters in November supported the abolition of federal department and sent a memo to schools in the state to prepare for that possibility.

“The federal government has hijacked our education system, using taxpayer dollars to impose harmful policies and control what is taught in our schools,” the memo states.

After Trump signaled during the campaign that he supported abolishing the department, the idea has been gaining momentum. He said he’ll prioritize “closing up the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., and sending all education and education work it needs back to the states.”

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who Trump appointed to lead a team to make the federal government more efficient, gave their approval to a proposal that abolishes the department. 

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He added that states should have complete control over education.

While Oklahoma Republicans are on board with disbanding the Education Department, one GOP lawmaker wants to ensure federal dollars continue to go to state and local schools. 

“My issue is, if you’re capable of doing that, how do you implement it,” Rep. Frank Lucas said. “The state of Oklahoma is the primary funder of public schools. Local property taxes are an important element, but federal dollars are really important too.”

He continued, “Reading programs, disabled programs, those kinds of issues, how do you make sure those resources are still available to local school districts?”

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., told The Oklahoman that he’s all for abolishing ED, but some federal funding is needed—particularly, federal Impact Aid.

“If you’re going get rid of the Department of Education, I’m not for getting rid of Impact Aid because that’s tens of millions of dollars to Oklahoma schools who are educating these kids would not be here but for that,” he said. “I agree with president about educational bureaucracy – it’s bloated, and frankly it’s wrong-headed in many of the policies it pursues… But honestly, I don’t see where you get the 60 votes in the Senate.”