It’s time we admit it—and shut it down for good.
What to Know:
- The Department of Education was originally founded in 1867, not to dictate policy but to collect data and improve education through shared insights.
- It was quickly demoted in 1868 due to fears of federal overreach—concerns that have only grown more valid.
- When Jimmy Carter revived it in 1979, it was seen by many as a political favor to unions rather than a structural fix.
- Today, the department oversees a $90+ billion annual budget but continues to underdeliver on its promises: test scores remain flat, achievement gaps persist, and teacher morale is at historic lows.
- Historically speaking, eliminating the department would not be unprecedented—it’s already been done once.
I recently finished reading Boutwell: Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy by Jeffrey Boutwell, a distant relative of George S. Boutwell. The book offers a compelling portrait of the Massachusetts congressman, Lincoln’s Treasury Secretary, and the man who introduced the original bill to create the Department of Education in 1867.
Jeffrey Boutwell’s deeply researched narrative brings to light George Boutwell’s forgotten legacy—as a Radical Republican, architect of Reconstruction, and advocate for universal public education—and reveals just how far today’s department has drifted from his founding vision. What struck me wasn’t just how forward-thinking Boutwell was, but how far we’ve strayed from that initial vision—and how little measurable success this department has had, from its inception to today.
That’s why I believe it’s time to get rid of the Department of Education. Not reform it. Not restructure it. Eliminate it entirely.
This isn’t a radical proposal—it’s a return to first principles. The truth is, this department has always struggled. And it’s never earned the results or trust to justify its size, scope, or permanence.
The Department Was Always Meant to Hold States Accountable
When Congress created the Department of Education in 1867, the goal was modest: collect information from state and local schools, highlight best practices, and improve performance through shared knowledge. There was no intention of issuing mandates, setting national curricula, or micromanaging local classrooms.
Boutwell’s idea was that education should remain a local responsibility—deeply rooted in the character, values, and needs of each community. The federal role was to observe and support, not control. But even that limited role spooked lawmakers. Within a year, the department was demoted, folded into the Department of the Interior, and essentially neutralized. The fear? That centralizing educational oversight would become a slippery slope to federal domination of schools.
Turns out, they weren’t wrong.
Carter’s Reboot Didn’t Fix the Problem—It Made It Worse
Fast forward to 1979. President Jimmy Carter reestablished the Department of Education as a cabinet-level agency. While framed as a reform, it was widely understood to be a political gesture—meant to reward the National Education Association (NEA), which had backed his campaign.However, support for the move was far from unanimous. The Senate passed the bill with a vote of 72–21, but when the final conference report returned to the House, it barely passed—215 to 201—showing sharp divisions in Congress and among the public over the department’s purpose and permanence.
Since then, the department has ballooned into a multi-billion-dollar bureaucracy. Its budget for 2023 exceeded $90 billion. Yet, despite this immense investment, student outcomes have flatlined. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often referred to as the “Nation’s Report Card,” reading and math scores for 13-year-olds in 2022 dropped to their lowest levels in decades. High school graduation rates remain stubbornly unequal by race and income. And teacher satisfaction has plummeted—nearly 1 in 4 public school teachers are considering leaving the profession, according to a 2023 RAND survey.
These trends echo the warnings raised in Boutwell: Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy, where author Jeffrey Boutwell argues that the department has long strayed from its original purpose—and continues to fail the very people it was meant to serve.
So what exactly are we getting in return?
A Department That’s Always Been a “Hot Potato”
One of the reasons the Boutwell book resonated with me is because it made something crystal clear: this department has never really worked. It’s been a political hot potato for over 150 years. It’s been created, demoted, reinstated, and challenged over and over. And it’s never fully earned the trust of the American people or demonstrated outcomes that justify its continued existence.
Whether the party in charge is left or right, the Department of Education becomes a lightning rod—loved or loathed depending on the political winds. The right sees it as a bloated enforcer of woke mandates. The left sees it as a bloated enabler of corporate testing regimes. And the people in classrooms—teachers, students, and families—often feel like they're the ones caught in the crossfire.
Shutting It Down Isn’t Radical—It’s Historical
Some will say abolishing the department would create chaos. But in fact, education governance is still primarily state-based. More than 90% of K–12 education funding comes from state and local sources. Curriculum decisions, teacher certification, and school accountability are already handled at the state level. The federal role is largely advisory—and increasingly antagonistic.
There is historical precedent here. In 1982, Ronald Reagan proposed eliminating the department, and while he didn’t succeed legislatively, the idea never truly disappeared. And in 1995, the House of Representatives under Speaker Newt Gingrich passed a budget that proposed folding the Department of Education back into other agencies.
We’ve been circling this drain for decades. Why not finish the job?
Wrap Up
Reading Boutwell helped me realize this: the Department of Education was never supposed to be what it is today. It wasn’t designed to be a policymaker. It wasn’t built to centralize power. And it certainly wasn’t envisioned as a $90 billion bureaucracy with a spot in the President’s Cabinet.
We’ve tried to fix it. We’ve tried to work around it. But maybe the simplest solution is the right one. Let it go.
If we want an education system that works—one that empowers teachers, respects parents, and puts kids first—it starts by returning authority to where it belongs: our communities.
It’s time to move on.