In the 2024 presidential election, did people vote for actions like demolishing the Department of Education and degrading the lives of American children? Did they vote to end the federal government’s involvement in public education?

The mission statement of the U.S. Department of Education: To promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.

DOE’s key functions:
• Gathers data needed to track how well students perform to hold schools and states accountable for the quality of instruction.
• Administers Pell Grants and the $1.6 trillion student loan program.
• Enforces federal civil rights laws that forbid discrimination based on race, gender and disability in public classrooms.
• Title I program that provides supplemental funding to high-poverty K-12 schools.
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act helps cover the cost of education for students with learning, emotional and/or physical disabilities.

Opportunities for children of the middle class and working poor to receive a quality education will be diminished. Republican leadership views the DOE’s mission is not as important as a tax cut for the elite billionaire class. Why are these values no longer important and what will be the result if they are abandoned? Who will be hurt, and who will benefit should the federal government’s role in public education be abandoned? And lest we forget: uneducated people are easier to control.

Marsha Burns
Andover