PREPARE FOR FIREWORKS, TRUMP’S EDUCATION EXECUTIVE ORDER IS COMING:

According to Reason Magazine, the Department of Education was created in 1979 as a political payoff to the National Education Association (NEA), which had endorsed Jimmy Carter in 1976 after he promised to establish the agency. The NEA played a significant role in securing delegates for Carter, and its influence over the department’s creation was openly acknowledged by NEA executive director Terry Herndon, who admitted, “There’d be no department without the NEA.” By the time the bill passed Congress, Carter’s approval rating had plummeted below 30% due to economic turmoil and the ongoing energy crisis.

So, yeah… the department was actually a scheme to save Carter’s presidency, not so much about improving education—hence the reason why, in the decades since its establishment, education in the United States hasn’t improved. In fact, it’s gotten worse, with the United States falling behind other nations in education quality and outcomes.

CNN pointed out that while proposals to eliminate the Department of Education or merge it with another federal agency have been made before, they have consistently failed to gain traction in Congress. “When presidents have proposed cuts to the department’s budget in the past, Congress has resisted and appropriated more funding than what the president asked for about 71% of the time, according to an analysis from the Brookings Institution.”

Whether things have changed enough that Trump can succeed this time remains to be seen. One thing is for sure: during his first term, Trump wanted to reduce funding for the department, but Republicans still increased its funding.

Randi Weingarten, hardest hit: