‘The biggest win’: Did Trump END the teachers’ union mafia?

While liberals across the country are horrified, conservatives couldn’t be happier with President Donald Trump’s executive order to end the Department of Education.

The move will return education to the states, prioritize parents over bureaucrats, and protect resources for children with disabilities — and Erika Donalds, chair of America First Policy Institute’s Center for Education Opportunity, is thrilled.

“The biggest win, what Republicans have been looking for for the past 45 years, literally, is this executive order and Trump making good on his promise to the American people that he’s going to shut down the Department of Education,” Donalds tells Jill Savage and Matthew Peterson on “Blaze News Tonight.”

While the move is exciting, it won’t come without serious pushback.

“Some powerful interests are going to oppose that and have for a very long time. Teachers’ unions and an entire colossus of, really, government is going to be against this,” Peterson says.

“Well, remember also, that the president put out an executive order regarding school choice prior to the executive order to shut down the department,” Donalds responds. “We’re going to also see some guidance from the Department of Education in the coming weeks on how some of these federal funds can also be used to enhance school choice.”

“Now, we know that in blue states, perhaps that are more controlled by teachers’ unions, they’re going to continue to use that on bureaucracy. More union members, more administrative bloat, non-teaching positions, as they have done for decades,” she continues.

“But in red states, in states that have embraced school choice, parents are going to have more options and more funding to go along with it,” she adds.

What this will lead to, Donalds believes, are families migrating for school choice.

“Think about Florida, where if you have three children, you could get $9,000 per child to send them to a private school. Whereas just above the border in Georgia, you get zero dollars to help with private school,” she explains.

“If I live near the border in Georgia, I’m going to Florida to make sure that my kids can get a better education,” she adds.

Want more from ‘Blaze News Tonight’?

To enjoy more provocative opinions, expert analysis, and breaking stories you won’t see anywhere else, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.