In a recent sitdown with Maria Bromo, President Trump fired up conversations about one of his favorite subjects: the Department of Education. It seems that President Trump believes that there never should have been a federal Department of Education in the first place. He argues that the bureaucratic machine has taken control of critical areas in education that should really be left to families and local communities. Imagine a gardener tending to a garden, allowing children to flourish naturally. Instead, President Trump suggests that schools have become more like factories—carpentry shops, if you will—where kids are being shaped into some mold dictated by Washington, D.C., instead of blossoming into their unique selves.
It’s an interesting viewpoint. The president emphasizes that the current centralized education model is really just a failure and ties it back to a German system that focuses mainly on skills rather than the classical education our Founding Fathers once received. He reminisces about a time when education was about the noble pursuit of truth and understanding—think Socratic debates over juicy topics like ancient texts, rather than lessons on how to fill out forms. Today’s students, according to him, are lacking the foundational knowledge that should guide them through life.
In illustrating the dire state of education in America, President Trump points to disheartening statistics. Despite being one of the highest spenders per student around the world, the U.S. hovers near the bottom in terms of educational outcomes. He quips about a story involving a woman, Alicia Ortiz, who graduated high school with honors but shockingly could not read or write—a story so mind-boggling that it could be mistaken for satire. Alas, it’s all too real, and Trump hints that these dismal results are just one glaring symptom of the bloated and inefficient Department of Education.
By advocating for the dismantling of this department, Trump claims he’s pushing to return education back to the states, which he argues will lead to better standards. His plans include promoting school choice, suggesting that if states can run their own schools, they can also achieve results that rival the best educational systems in the world. With fewer bureaucrats pulling strings from afar, he believes more money could be allocated where it truly matters—directly into the classrooms.
But it doesn’t stop at just dismantling the Department of Education. Trump encourages a fundamental shift toward a system that parents and communities feel involved in—where the focus is on educating the whole child, not just cramming knowledge into them about standardized tests or administrative fads. It’s as if he’s waving a flag in favor of a more personalized approach to education, challenging the status quo and calling for education reform that echoes the classics—the great thinkers like Aristotle and Plato who helped establish the foundations of Western civilization.
As President Trump dives into this debate, it’s clear he sees the next few years as crucial for the future of education in America. Whether his vision will come to fruition remains to be seen, but he’s certainly stirring up conversation on a topic that affects the very fabric of society. After all, decent education is a stronghold of democracy, and if our children aren’t learning how to think critically and creatively, then the country might just find itself in a pickle down the road. So, let’s see where this movement goes—in the world of education, the stakes couldn’t be higher!
