Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com 

Imagine being appointed to be the president of a huge tech company. You have no experience or knowledge of tech. Your 11-year-old grandson taught you once how to turn on a computer, but that’s the limit of your tech knowledge. You’re a modern-day Luddite.

Most of your experience is in showbiz. The chairman of the board loved your show and even made guest appearances. The other board members are afraid of the chairman, so when he shouts, “jump!” They whimper, “How high?”

You’ve received your orders from the chairman. His goal is to dismantle the company regardless of harm. You’re hired to destroy, not reform.

Sounds a lot like what’s happening to the United States Department of Education. 

President Donald Trump said recently that he told Linda McMahon, his nominee for Secretary of Education, “I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job.” 

Linda McMahon and her husband Vince McMahon founded World Wrestling Entertainment. She once ran for U.S. Senate from Connecticut but lost. During Trump’s first term, she headed the Small Business Administration. She may have qualifications—just not the ones matching her new assignment.

Trump and his legislative lemmings claimed Pete Hegseth was qualified to manage the 2.9 million people in the Defense Department because he’d been shot at defending America. 

Although he lacks qualifications to run the Pentagon, Hegseth was at least a soldier in the department he’s picked to lead. McMahon has never been an educator. She has not endured a hot classroom of 7^th graders after gym, or calmed screeching parents sure their child is a genius.

I guess all Linda needs to do is be willing to ride the wrecking ball at an agency on the Trump destruction list.

Her qualifications appear to be her willingness to invite Trump to show off on her wrestling shows, and her ability to pony up a $10 million donation to the Trump campaign.

So, why has the Department of Education been a political wedge issue since its inception?

President Jimmy Carter made education a cabinet level department in 1979. Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan promised to abolish it during his 1980 campaign. The Democratic majority in the U.S. House stopped him—unlike Trump, Reagan understood he couldn’t eliminate an agency by executive order.

The Department of Education has also had mixed reviews from educators. I’ve never been huge fan of one-size-fits-all initiatives like “No Child Left Behind.”

“No Child Left Behind” really wasn’t about not leaving anyone behind. It was about using standardized tests to punish schools. A more accurate name would have been “No test left ungiven.” 

Anyone who’s taught for a couple years knows standardized tests are snapshots, which are often out of focus if a student hasn’t had enough sleep, enough breakfast, or enough parenting.

In addition, schools labeled low performing were often those serving the lowest-income neighborhoods. 

Nevertheless, the federal government plays an essential role in public education. 

After all, the first name of our country is “United.” We should be united in agreeing that all kids matter, regardless of disability or location.

Here’s some of what the Department of Education does:

• It protects students with disabilities. It requires Individual Education Programs (IEPs) and 504 plans for students under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The Department ensures school districts must provide accommodations.
• It enforces Title IX, protecting students from sex discrimination.
• It protects students from racial discrimination under Title VI.
• It provides federal funding for Title I, special education, and Pell Grants for college students.
• It investigates and enforces civil rights laws. It investigates colleges and universities for fraud.
• It provides research for educators to improve classroom instruction.
• It oversees federal student loans.  

So, anyone cheering for the destruction of the Department of Education had better consider which agency will protect all students, regardless of where they live in the United States.

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Top photo of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education building in Washington, DC is by Tada Images, available via Shutterstock.