Rand Paul Calls Education Dept an ‘Utter Failure,’ Says States Better Suited to Control Funds
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul defended the Trump administration’s efforts to begin the process of dismantling the Department of Education, arguing that the agency has not produced results that justify its continuation.
During an interview on CBS News’ Face The Nation with Margaret Brennan, Paul was asked whether low-income schools would continue receiving federal subsidies if the department were shut down.
“I think the bigger question is, if we’re sending all this money to Kentucky and all the other states, why are our scores abysmal?” Paul responded. “Why do two-thirds of the kids not read at proficiency? Why do two-thirds of the kids or more not have math proficiency?”
Paul argued that the Department of Education has been an “utter failure,” adding, “I’d leave it back to the states. It has always been a position, a very mainstream Republican position, to have control of the schools by the states, send the money back to the states, or, better yet, never take it from the states.”
He continued by echoing arguments made by the Trump administration, asserting that states are better equipped to determine how education funds should be allocated to meet their specific needs.
“When I talk to teachers, they chafe at the national mandates on testing, they think are not appropriate for their kids,” Paul said. “They think they waste too much time teaching to national testing. The teachers would like more autonomy, and I think the teachers deserve more autonomy.”
The senator also said parents are more concerned with ensuring their children can “read and write and do math” than with guarantees that federal education funding will continue.
“The number of dollars has gone up exponentially and our scores have gone the other way,” he said. “So dollars are not proportional to educational success. What I want is success. And I have talked a lot about this. I think there are innovations we can do where there’s more learning via some of the best teachers and we pay them more. I would like to have an NBA or NFL of teachers, the most extraordinary teachers, teach the entire country, if not the entire world.”
