By Bear Howard
Sedona, Az — In a stunning and consequential move, the current administration of the United States has announced its intention to close the Department of Education—a decision that could profoundly reshape how America approaches the education of its children.
Audio PlayerThe ripple effects of such a shift are vast: a potential reduction in federal funding to local school districts, diminished national oversight, and a heavier burden placed on states to define and deliver educational standards.
This marks a pivotal moment, one that forces the nation to confront a sharp and vital question: Are our current education reforms genuinely helping all children—or are they inadvertently deepening inequality and undercutting our long-term global competitiveness?
Using Arizona as a case study is especially relevant, as the state has become a national laboratory for school choice, privatization, and decentralization
Over the past two decades, Arizona has aggressively expanded charter schools, with more than 500 operating today. It was the first state to implement universal school vouchers—empowering every family, regardless of income, to use public funds for private or homeschooling expenses. It has also stripped back many of the accountability measures that typically apply to public schools, leaving charter and private institutions with far fewer oversight requirements
The goals were ambitious: to give parents more control, to spur innovation through competition, and to untangle education from public-sector bureaucracy. On paper, this was a bold reimagining of the system—education as a marketplace of choices rather than a single, uniform structure. But after decades of reforms and billions of dollars funneled into alternatives, the results have been sobering.
Statewide student achievement has not significantly improved. Arizona’s NAEP scores—the “Nation’s Report Card”—have remained flat or even declined slightly since school choice was expanded. Persistent achievement gaps remain, especially among low-income and minority students. Many of the schools benefiting from vouchers and charter status are not required to follow state curriculum standards, administer standardized tests, or report demographic and performance data. Meanwhile, concerns about fraud and a lack of financial oversight—highlighted in reports from the Arizona Auditor General—continue to grow.
This approach has shifted education from a public mission to a market commodity, compromising the principle of education as a universal right in favor of competition, exclusion, and exploitation.
Arizona’s aggressive expansion of charter schools has led to significant issues, including financial mismanagement, fraudulent activities, and inconsistent student performance. For instance, in 2021, April Black and Amanda Jelleson, co-founders of Incito Schools in Goodyear, were indicted for orchestrating a fraud scheme involving nearly $568,000, highlighting the potential for financial misconduct within the charter system. Similarly, in 2019, two former employees of another Goodyear charter school were indicted in a $2.2 million fraud case, underscoring systemic vulnerabilities.
Student performance in Arizona’s charter schools has also raised concerns. A 2023 report analyzing National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores revealed that Arizona charter school students performed below the national average, suggesting that the rapid expansion of charter schools may not have translated into improved academic outcomes.
The Arizona Republic
These instances reflect broader challenges within Arizona’s charter school system, where financial oversight and academic performance have not always met expectations, drawing parallels to cases like the discredited Trump University, where profit motives and false promises overshadowed educational integrity.
And layered beneath these surface-level results is a deeper, more uncomfortable truth: America’s education system, even in its reformist guise, has been designed—explicitly at times, and implicitly more often—to serve those who already have the most. Children from highly educated families, from resource-rich communities, are best positioned to navigate a system of choice. They are the ones most likely to benefit from school options, from parental savvy in navigating enrollment processes, from transportation flexibility, and from access to enrichment. Meanwhile, families without these advantages are too often left to sort through opaque systems, underfunded neighborhood schools, and options that promise choice but deliver uneven or inferior outcomes
In many communities, school choice has been less about empowerment for all and more about allowing already-advantaged families to cluster their children in environments tailored to their preferences—often academic rigor, exclusivity, or cultural comfort. This has led to increasing segregation by race, income, and achievement level, and a quiet abandonment of the ideal that public education should be a common good that brings all children together.
This raises serious questions about America’s trajectory in a global context. Top-performing countries like Finland, Singapore, Japan, and Estonia take a very different approach. They operate with cohesive national curricula, invest heavily in teacher preparation, and maintain high academic expectations for all students
These nations have less school choice, but far more consistency and equality across their systems. Notably, they often achieve superior results in math, science, and literacy—sometimes with lower per-student spending than the U.S.—by focusing on system coherence and long-term outcomes.
By contrast, the United States spends more per pupil yet continues to produce uneven results, largely due to systemic fragmentation and an entrenched belief that the best and brightest will rise if given the right options—often defined by parental initiative rather than collective investment. Arizona’s lead in this direction may offer more pathways for some, but it has yet to show that choice alone can drive large-scale improvement or equity.
This is not just an academic concern—it is a national imperative. In a world where China is producing engineers by the hundreds of thousands, Germany is aligning vocational training with economic needs, and Singapore is continuously refining every layer of its education system, the U.S. cannot afford to experiment endlessly without evidence of results.
The Arizona model prioritizes individual choice over systemic coherence, which can benefit certain students—particularly those with time, resources, or proximity to strong schools—but risks undermining the equity, consistency, and national standards we need to compete globally.
So we must ask hard questions: Does school choice improve outcomes at scale, or merely offer more consumer options to those already positioned to take advantage of them? How do we ensure not just access, but accountability and quality? Are we spending wisely, or duplicating efforts across public, charter, and private systems? And most critically, can innovation be scaled in a way that lifts national performance, not just individual opportunity?
As we move deeper into 2025, this conversation is not optional. It is critical. The future of our workforce, our economy, and our national standing in the world depends on getting this right—not just for some students in some places, but for every American child.
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6 Comments
The abolishment of the Department of Education was one of Hitlers first acts as Chancellor following his attempted insurrection and brief stint in prison prior to going full tilt Fascist. It’s been the play book of every Fascist in history to eliminate the things that make far more sense than they ever could.
Dump has about a 6-7th grade education level from what any unbiased observer would think. He was sent to military school where he played sports and scammed classmates as a disciplinary problem. He evaded the Draft by paying off a crooked doctor to say he had “bone spurs” and then he bad mouths everyone who has ever donned the uniform except war criminals and criminal Commanders. This is why he has Drunky destroying the Department of Defense with removals of war heroes under the fascist guise of righting a wrong when in reality they are just wronging wrongs! Historical wrongs that mature M’ericans are willing to accept as our fractious history. Nothing used to be more un American than insulting a combat veteran or a Criminal POTUS. Now both are the “norm” and it is utterly disgusting and shameful that this is where we are now.
Threatening to takeover Allied territory! Betraying those who have fought for and with us.
And all for a Draft Dodging Treasonous Twice Impeached Insurrectionist Commie DICKtator Lover who has a Jr High education, billions of grifted USD and used to pal around Clinstone and Epstein on Epstein Island.
Guess by abolishing the Department of Education he’s hoping to Keep M’erica Stoopid Again Again so he can rein in perfumed privilege alongside Elonia from here to eternity?
well done article thank you. The facts are clear; whether they will be considered is another matter.
The U.S. Department of Education currently distributes about $73 billion annually, with much of that funding targeted toward low-income and underserved school districts — many of which are in red states that lack the local tax base to fund education adequately. These federal dollars support special education, school lunches, teacher salaries, infrastructure upgrades, and countless programs that keep public schools functioning in communities that otherwise couldn’t afford them.
By gutting the Department of Education or turning those funds into block grants controlled at the state level — as some Republicans have proposed — oversight and accountability vanish. That means political operatives at the state level can steer money toward pet projects, charter schools, or private contractors rather than ensuring funds are used equitably across districts. And once that federal money becomes a political bargaining chip, it can be redirected — or cut entirely — depending on which party holds power.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about efficiency. It’s about control — and cutting federal spending so the wealthiest Americans can get more tax breaks.
The irony? Many of the schools most dependent on federal education funding are in Republican-led states with poor rural communities and underfunded school districts. For example:
Mississippi: 23.3% of its education budget comes from federal funds
South Dakota: 21.7%
Montana: 20.9%
If the Department of Education is dismantled or defunded, the children of these states will suffer first—not the students in wealthy districts with strong local tax bases.
The Department of Education isn’t a bloated bureaucracy. It’s the firewall protecting educational opportunity for America’s most vulnerable kids—especially those in forgotten zip codes where poverty is high and opportunity is scarce.
What we’re witnessing is not just a war on a federal agency. It’s a war on the idea that every child in America deserves a fair shot — no matter where they’re born.
Mr Segner
Everything MAGA does is designed to strip rights and control others. And all because MAGA was forced to be fair and equal to all Americans and they couldn’t compete so now they are eliminating, destroying, denying and deporting so they can. We’re talking about Criminal Morons who want to abolish Child Labor laws and put kids in meat factories and out picking crops rather than educating them to have a fair chance in society. Also why they abolished the Department of Education, so they can put kids to work for pennies in unregulated wealthy owned businesses where they will have No rights, No overtime, No nothing! Because MAGA has become the Nazi Party of America and for some sick reason they are proud of it but won’t admit why!
I guess I will jump into the cesspool of comments.
The standards in the country have fallen from the time Carter, who is now the 2nd worst president in the United States, created the Department of Education (Not to mention its sister department from Carter, also an abject failure, the Department of Energy). But we can do that another day.
I am not sure where Mr. Howard got his information. The Arizona Republic is not bastion of common sense or reason. If there is no agenda, they don’t print a story.
In 2000 the DOE was $61 Billion, in 2024 it was $269 Billion. And even though we spend way above average for every student, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a group of advanced industrialized nations, measures international education outcomes and we are not where we were before DOE was formed. On the average number of years students spend in formal education, the US ranks 23rd out of 41.
The OECD administers the Program for International Student Student Assessment, or PISA, to member states and nonmember states, US students scored above the international average in reading and science, but below average in math.
When compared with all 81 countries that took the test in 2022, including non-OECD countries, The US ranked 16th in science, in reading it ranked 9th. Math, the US ranked 34th. And from 2018 to 2022 science scores fell 3 points, reading 1 point, math 22 points. We spend $3,400 more per student than the average OECD student.
71% of the budget went to grants and loans for higher education (college). Aid to states, and tribes roughly 24.5%.
in 2020 salaries and benefits were $622.7 million with a request to increase to $682 million in 2021. (Sounds like the Sedona Government huh…but I digress)
$200 Billion extra was give to DOE by congress for COVID. And for that we kept kids home, which was unnecessary, (other EU countries did no such thing), and put a whole generation behind by 2 years. Today in China, we are 4 years behind in learning. A 4th grader in China is an 8th grader here. That’s no way to catch up.
A student just graduated High School with honors and could not read or written sued the high school. And considering our recent immigration policies of letting millions come here who can’t speak English (Becoming a US citizen requires that you must be able to read, write and understand English) is it any wonder that teachers can’t do their jobs with multiple languages they don’t understand in the classroom? So standards are dropped – and our kids suffer.
A huge amount of money goes to administer the DOE. Whether you like vouchers or not, that is the best way to educate the kids. Put a dollar amount on their heads and let them and their parents decide, and get the government mandates out of the curriculum, and back to basics. And no more DEI. History, reading, writing, math, science and athletics to teach them discipline.
The number one state, right now for test scores and getting back to basics is Louisiana. Think about that.
If you would like a wake up call, buy or rent the film “Waiting for Superman”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbCZB_sy6Ws
If you want to give our kids a fair shot, make the public schools compete for those dollars. We have terrific public school teachers – and then we have those that are no so terrific. If they fire one in NYC, they sit in a room until they retire. Not fired, still costing the state.
If your kid isn’t doing well, move them somewhere else. And take this to the bank: As of 2024, an estimated 3.7 million students in the US are being homeschooled, representing around 6.73% of all K-12 students, marking a significant increase from pre-pandemic levels.
If COVID did one thing positive, it exposed the parents to some of the crap their kids were being fed. I have 3 grandkids in home schooling. And they are tested, and all three of them have exceed the requirements of their age vs grade levels. My 14 year old is doing High School junior work. You excel to your highest level, not dragged down to the lowest denominator.
And those VOUCHER dollars go to the parents, their kids can and are tested.
Money going to these universities is out of control, becasue the system is out of control. If you look at the rise of inflation for tuition, vs ANY OTHER MATRIX, IT IS OUT OF CONTROL. from 1973 to present, CPI is 230%, New homes, 325%, Medical 575%, and college tuition is 812%. Why? The Government took over student loans, and the did NOT restrict the college tuitions, so the universities know they can charge what they want and the government will pay, and the student is on the hook…and the student cannot bankrupt themselves out of it.
The education decisions belong in the states. Without DOE, millions more will be available without government national edict. And maybe we can also get a boost in our trade schools, as that is where independent businesses come from that power the majority of our economy.
Trump can’t get rid of DOE without congress, but he can and will cripple it, so eventually and hopefully it will go away.
He has already moved the student loan program to the SBA, and the aid to kids for lunches and other special needs to HHS (used to be HEW, remember? Health, Education and Welfare). So all the ridiculous screaming on the left is just noise, he outsmarted them again, taking care of the kids, saving us money and increasing efficiency.
We tried it Careter’s way when HEW was broken apart in 1980. We have tried it for way too long as most federal agencies become a life of their own and lose sight of the objective, and end up being run by life long bureaucrats.
After all, we are $36 trillion in debt, borrowing $1 trillion about every 100 days, totally unsustainable that the majority of every politician has ignored for decades. All talk, no action. Now we got action. The majority of the American voter said ENOUGH, the electoral college REALLY SAID ENOUGH, and now promises made are being kept. If you think our system has been giving every child a fair shot, then get your head out of the sand. So either join, or as they say, get out of the way.
We spent $6.9trill last year, raised $4.7 and borrowed $2.2 trillion. And for the sidewalk economists out there – the “RICH” can’t make that up if you confiscated ALL their wealth.
PS: I have an 8th grade finals test from 1912. I could not pass it. Can you? Those were standards we only dream about today. Back then, 8th grade was about it for most.
If you want to try and take it, since I cannot post graphics, I added a page to my Cambodia Project site. Give it a shot. Good Luck
https://sam-schroeder-cambodiawells.us/8th-grade-test
You just gotta love someone spewing the usual vomit and complaining about the debt that the GOP created over and over….Yea those wonderful tax breaks never paid for themselves! PERIOD!
If we never cut those taxes for the richest, we wouldnt be in this mess.
And remember DOGE is only in place to make room for more tax cuts for people who dont need help!
Wake up America, read up on history of tax breaks and what they have done!
Mike got his, so good luck for your grand kids!