A Mandate to Dismantle the Department of Education

Well, it looks like Donald Trump has claimed the decisive victory he was hoping for.  

Winning both the popular vote and the electoral college gave him the mandate many felt he needed if he was going to be able to actually bring about the many changes he promised on the campaign trail. Adding to his momentum, the Senate flipped red, and the House looks like it’s going to follow suit. 

It seems we’ve witnessed a true “red wave”—a loud and clear rejection of the far-left policies that have been shoved down our throats since 2020.

Trump did something I don’t remember having ever seen a politician do before. He built a truly non-partisan coalition, and Americans showed up big-time to support it.

From Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to Nicole Shanahan and Elon Musk, people from across the political spectrum came together, united by a common goal: to bring sanity back to our institutions.

Teasing ideas like a Department of Government Efficiency (DoGE, hilariously) led by Elon Musk and Ron Paul, Trump seemed to understand that Americans longed for their own “afuera” moment.

Imagine if they really do it! 

Musk has already proven that he knows how to cut a workforce by 80 percent and emerge with a better, more functional organization. Pair that with Ron Paul’s unwavering commitment to liberty and sound policy, and we could actually see the bloated bureaucracy of Washington reduced to a mere shadow of its former self.

And what about Trump’s promise to let RFK Jr. Make America Healthy Again?! 

Kennedy has spent his entire career taking on Big Pharma (and winning!), challenging the unchecked power of an industry that’s long needed real accountability. 

The prospect of finally holding these pharmaceutical giants responsible for their decades of dirty deeds is thrilling. And yes, the idea of McDonald’s fries cooked in beef tallow instead of toxic seed oils would be the icing on the cake.

Of significance to many Libertarians was Trump’s promise to LNC Chair Angela McArdle to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht.

Ross created Silk Road in 2011 when he was 26 years old. It was an online marketplace that facilitated the buying and selling of various goods, including illegal drugs. 

In 2013 he was arrested, and in 2015 he was given what many believe to be an extraordinarily harsh sentence: double life imprisonment, plus 40 years, far exceeding the punishment given to many violent criminals.

I’ve met Ross’s mom Lynn on several occasions. She’s a sweet lady who has been tireless in her efforts to bring attention to her son’s cause. For many, Trump’s interest in Ross’s case signaled hope for reform to what they view as a weaponized Department of Justice—and convinced them to vote for him.

But out of all the promises, partisan and non, there’s one that I believe will make the most difference to the most Americans: the end of the Department of Education.

To understand why this would be so monumental, we need to take a quick look at the history of education in the United States. 

Established in 1979 under President Carter, the DoE was supposed to centralize and improve educational standards across the nation. Instead, what it did was consolidate control, taking power away from parents and local communities and putting it into the hands of federal bureaucrats. 

The result? Decades of decline, and policies that punish good teachers and strip parents of their say in how their kids are educated.

Despite billions of dollars spent, the DoE’s legacy has been one of corruption, stagnation, and failure. Test scores have tanked, students are more disengaged than ever, and teachers find themselves tied to one-size-fits-all regulations that leave no room for innovation, and no hope for improvement.

Education has become less about nurturing curious, capable thinkers, innovators, and doers, and more about compliance, blind obedience to authority, and rote memorization. 

It’s no wonder more and more parents are turning to homeschooling or alternative education options. They are desperately searching for something that feels meaningful, useful, and, well… educational.

But, imagine what could happen if we did away with the DoE. 

Imagine teachers who can actually teach, and who are able to adapt to the unique needs of their students. Imagine communities taking charge of their schools, crafting educational experiences that reflect local values and priorities. 

Imagine schools becoming places where children learn to think, reason, and explore—not just memorize. A future like that would be a return to what education should be: inspiring, empowering, and deeply personal.

We actually wrote a book about this a few years ago. In The Tuttle Twins and the Education Vacation, Ethan and Emily step outside the traditional classroom to learn from a passionate educator who challenges them to think differently about what learning should be.

Inspired by John Taylor Gatto’s The Underground History of American Education, the Tuttle family learns that real education happens when it’s driven by curiosity and self-direction, not by rigid standards set far away in Washington.

If you are one of the millions of Americans who have come to believe that traditional schooling is simply not working, this book is for you.

It’ll spark discussions at your dinner table about what true learning means and why it’s so vital for kids to be able to pursue their interests and think independently. It will help your family answer questions like “Is schooling the same as education?” and “Can real learning happen when it’s compulsory?”

As we step into a new chapter as a nation, I’m excited that we are doing it with true, and lasting, education reform front and center. I’m excited to finally be able to see how we can help our children thrive in a system free from top-down mandates. 

Trump’s promise to dismantle the Department of Education is potentially life-altering for generations of Americans. It has the potential to truly make us Great Again.

I hope he keeps it.

— Connor