Eagle Forum Applauds Executive Order Dismantling the Department of Education
March 20, 2025 | Washington, D.C.
Public schools in America were vastly superior before the Federal Government turned on the funding faucet. It’s time to write ‘finis’ to federal aid to education… — Phyllis Schlafly, Founder of Eagle Forum
“The long-awaited abolition of the Department of Education has arrived,” said Eagle Forum President Kris Ullman. “Since the unnecessary creation of the Department in 1979, Eagle Forum has worked to dismantle it and return education policy to where it belongs — to the states and local communities. Thank you, President Trump!”
President Trump signed an executive order today to begin the shuttering of the Department of Education. In 1980, the agency received $57 billion in federal funding. Over time, spending has increased by $268 billion, yet test scores have significantly dropped, parental rights have been undermined, and teachers and schools are burdened with harmful regulations. The Obama and Biden administrations focused on non-academic issues such as gender identity, social-emotional learning, and other harmful ideologies. The Department of Education has not been in the business of properly educating our children for a long time.
“For over 45 years, the agency has spent taxpayer money to indoctrinate our kids,” Ullman continued. “They have pushed for a one-size-fits-all approach to the nearly 100,000 public schools in the United States. In turn, parents have been silenced, political ideologies have been forced on children, and students’ academic performance has plummeted. The Department of Education, a ‘gift’ to the teachers’ unions, has failed generations of children. It simply must be dismantled.”
“We are grateful for President Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon for their hard work to ensure that the federal government will not meddle in the education of our children,” Ullman concluded. “Returning control over education to the states will result in benefits to parents, children, and teachers. States are already retaking their authority and making positive changes. In recent years, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana have seen great improvements in reading proficiency by adopting phonics instruction, a proven method that we at Eagle Forum have long championed. We are committed to working to ensure that all states are equipped to reclaim their rightful role to improve education for America’s children.”