“Trump must shut down the Department of Education’s centers of ideological production and terminate the employment of the bureaucrats who run them. The department maintains a sprawling network of ideological centers through its research programs, as well as a vast array of NGOs, which survive on department funding and promote left-wing identity activism. These groups have become hotbeds of progressive identity politics, promoting theories of “systemic racism” and the idea that men can turn into women. Such activities do not serve the public good and do not deserve public subsidy, especially under a conservative president who promised to put an end to critical race theory and gender ideology in the federal government.”… in the long run, this is our opportunity to save our children from socialism and communism… the fact that our tax dollars are wasted here is a true abomination to our country and its founders. Use the money to give as block grants to states. Get our federal government out of the indoctrination business.
Well said. The commissars of the department of indoctrination use our tax funds to groom our children into red guards. Trump should hammer the charts that show how results have fallen as DoE funding and headcount have expanded.
Seriously? If you read Wild Swans by Jung Chang 🦢 http://www.jungchang.net/wild-swans it’s about 3 generations of women in China & the build up to & the consequences of the Cultural Revolution; which describes how children were indoctrinated to believe that spying on their parents was a necessary « Kindness » & « real » acts of violence were acts of « compassion » because their parents & those guilty of « wrong thinking » needed to be re-educated.
Any belief system be it religious or political that insists on being the dominant belief system will be authoritarian, because the mindset can only tolerate complete acceptance & total submission. It demands complete conformity, rejects the importance of public debate & is unable to see the benefits that the flexibility of pluralism allows.
Many of us figured out when Biden defied Supreme Court rulings and tried repeatedly to cancel student loan debt for millions of people, a college education is not only overrated, it's often a waste of society's resources.
The government loans tens, sometimes hundreds of $thousands to 18 year-olds for college. It should be clear from the student loan repayment track record, people of that age don't yet have judgement to evaluate the financial commitment they're taking on. Then they waste 4-5 years of their lives getting a gender/ethnic/LGBTQ studies degree that won't enable them to earn enough to repay the loan. How does that make sense for society?
Tuition inflation has outpaced high general inflation b/c of the large amounts of money artificially injected into the system through student loans. When I was in college in the 1970's and graduate school in the 1980's, student loans weren't so easy to get. I and my parents were able to pay as I went. Paying tuition out-of-pocket wasn't easy, but we did it.
Student loans should be eliminated, and replaced with grants for low-income students who have a track record of academic accomplishment. And grants should be provided for STEM degrees, not the various "studies" degrees that won't provide solid earning ability.
I agree with you except for the grants. The feds should just stay out of student education funding and leave it to the states. Even block grants should be phased out over time. I fear that any thread of funding that remains will eventually regrow into a new federal morass.
If Trump simply messaged that the funding was going back to the states to use for education as each state saw fit, I think a lot of people would support this
Right, and it shouldn't even pass through the hands of federal goverment. The money remains with the taxpayer. If the states really need the funds they can levy tax at the state or local level. Get the fed gov out of it completeyl
But if and when we can’t get the feds out of it completely, then we should condition any fed money on allowing school choice vouchers. Else we are just sending the funding from Fed leftist ideologues to state and local public school leftist ideologues.
So true. Betsy Devos secretary told me that she did not have the power to dictate to the states using federal $. She had no comment when I asked how Obama was able to do it. Obvious answer was not he did not.
Yes, any continued federal involvement in educational funding will eventually sprout a new federal morass. Leave it to the states to do as they please. People will notice and vote or move as they wish.
He has repeatedly stated that. The people freaking out don't want to hear that message nor do they want the people to hear and understand that message.
No!!!!!!! Sending education back to the states? Obama made sure that most schools utilized his common core globalist agenda. Almost all schools now use it. What is this school choice? You switch your kid from one globalist school to another? Not the solution! Read my solution on x.com @sandvickC10752. .
You seem to completely fail to understand that school choice means the ability to use taxpayer money to send your child to a *private* school, not merely to a better public school.
Private schools are not bound to any federally or state mandated agenda.
The single best way by far to improve education for the largest number would be to break the government quasi-monopoly over running schools.
ok. understand. So you take your kid out of the bad school in your neighborhood and ship him or her off to a charter school -could be miles away. Another element not being discussed. We have to reverse obama's common core to all states by mandating an American curriculum then disband the DOE. Capeesh? Please read and let me know what you think. Been posting it and emailing it, trying to get it to Pres Trump and Linda McMahon. Thanks.-------------------
OPEN LETTER TO: President DONALD J TRUMP and Dept of Educ Secretary LINDA McMAHON.
Globalists have weaned out of us the creative ‘out-of-the-box’ abilities, entrepreneurship and patriotic spirit Americans have always been known for. That is why America is ranked #40 out of 40 countries. The Dept of Education Secretary needs to mandate to all states the following policy- ‘MSG’ – MAKE ALL SCHOOLS – GREAT SCHOOLS’ then disband. If not, the globalist agenda will remain in school curriculum. Capeesh:? Obama mandated his Common Core curriculum to all public schools. So the DOE must quickly re-awaken that American creative entrepreneur patriotic spirit in our youth along with everyone else who was educated in this globalist curriculum for last 63 years. We don’t have much time. Democrats want their power back-Nov 2026.
My 3 Part Curriculum: (PART 1 OF 3). In exchange for federal funding, all public schools to rip out the current globalist curriculum and replace with a new commonsense American curriculum being developed. Get all School Boards under ‘MAGA’ control. Recruit teachers from your MAGA Army in all industries.
(PART 2 OF 3) Restore the moral compass in our youth. James Madison, one of the original founding fathers of our constitution. “..We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments...”
Back in 1962, 10 Commandments (Thou Shalt Not Kill, Steal, Covet, etc.) were taken out of schools and globalists won’t let them back in. Mandate a call to action to all public high school principals for their students to rewrite/convert the 10 commandments into their own language entitled ie ’10 Life Rules’ that they can easily relate to and discuss thus bypassing the will of the globalists. Also you must solve the 8 challenges addressed in article “Why U.S. Children are Killing by JB Williams – August 19, 2019, news with views (period) com.
(PART 3 of 3): Take 1 class period daily to be split into 2 subjects: ie Creativity 101 and America 101
• 1st class: “Creativity 101: – (2 days a week). Provide the atmosphere to encourage students to start thinking outside the box. Students would be free to: Dream, Draw, Design, Build, Paint, Sculpt, Write, Imagine! Jr-Achievement would be encouraged to work with students in grades 9 thru 12.
• 2nd class: “America 101” (the other 3 days). Learn about America including civics. Richard Dreyfuss (Founder, The Dreyfuss Initiative) ”..To teach our kids how to run our country, before they are called upon to run our country…if we don’t, someone else will run our country..”. Learn about our Founders’ monument (Plymouth, Massachusetts) thru documentary produced by Kirk Cameron – Monumental Movie com). Study and discuss the book that explains the 28 principles that went into creating our founding documents ‘5,000 Year Leap’ by W. Cleon Skousen.. Glenn Beck’s book review: “….Once students are aware how precious America is, they will appreciate it more. It’s one of the most important books on restoring America to its original principles….The nation America’s founders built is now in the throes of a political, economic, social and spiritual crisis that has driven many to an almost frantic search for modern solutions. The truth is that the solutions have been available for a long time – in the writings of this nation’s Founding Fathers – and carefully set forth in this incredible book…It’s the book Ronald Reagan wanted taught in high schools, and Ted Kennedy stopped it from happening. That should tell you all you need to know. … When you read these principles, your mouth will fall open. … The scales will fall off your eyes on who we are.…It will help you understand American free enterprise. You’ll be able to defend it. You’ll be able to know what makes it possible for 6 percent of humanity living under our free economy to produce one-half of the Earth’s developed wealth every single year…..”
Our Republic is not a spectator sport so to restore it, please tell your MAGA army to join at least 1 of 5 national organizations to stay connected. Join Precinct Strategy com. Urge your MAGA Army to run for office in 2026 or actively support those who are. Form Freedom Pods in every city (details at: American Policy org).
Please implement ‘MSG’ – MAKE ALL SCHOOLS – GREAT SCHOOLS.
I did NOT say charter school. Those are still public schools.
I said PRIVATE school.
And you continue to have nothing to say about how well implemented the education is going to be when it is a bunch of leftist union public school employees who are delivering your curricula.
Which is another strong reason to disempower leftist school boards from indoctrinating the children of parents who care enough to want to avoid this by requiring school choice of any state taking federal money.
If leftist states and local school boards want to do their leftism without taking federal taxpayer money, there isn’t much we can - or imo should try to - do about it.
Aside from the market radicalism regarding student loans I basically support this. I'm not conservative but I reject postmodernist ideology (especially gender ideology) that I do not consider to be "leftist" in the traditional sense because how exactly has the postmodernist gobbledygook advanced the lives of working class people? It has not. It's also viciously misogynistic. It has only created an elitist academic bureaucracy – many of whom are from the humanities who would otherwise be flipping burgers because their "social justice" degrees are useless in the real world. They're only purpose is "terrorizing" everyone with woke nonsense, creating an atmosphere of distrust among the work force that they artificially divide into minorities competing for the highest victimhood status. It has achieved exactly nothing for working class people including black people. So good riddance.
Here in the UK the Labour government (read Democrati going on Marxist) are hell bent on reducing our schools from Academies with currently the highest position in the West for reading, to Comprehensives a standard of mediocrity lower than this is hard to imagine.
The DOE much like USAID are only pieces within a great repository of agencies that are employing political operatives and patronage hires to continue the machine politics in D.C. The city of Washing DC has grown into a behemoth of no-show jobs protected by civil service unions. There is no public outcry or protest against the elimination or dismantling of these cash grab agencies; however, the “organized” and “staged” demonstrations and speeches your witnessing on television are being staged by the DNC, Democrats in Congress, Unions, NGO’s and the corporate legacy media. These organizations are the cabal that brought you the “Russiagate” propaganda for 4 years! These organizations are terrified they are losing their funding through the elimination of government agencies. THEIR GIG, GRAFT, SCHEME IS ENDING! THEY GOT CAUGHT! The funds that propelled these agencies should be used to help the victims of hurricanes in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida that were neglected by FEMA.
I differ with you primarily on the “no show” comment - I would rather that the leftist ideologues not show up and so not amplify their ideologizing, even if we’re paying them, then have them “earn” their pay…
I agree with you on the ideological points you’ve made. But, 96% percent of the federal workforce isn’t going to work each day. Can you do that do that at your job? We need to run the federal government like the private sector. The NGO’s and civil service unions are terrified by DOGE because their funding will evaporate and the Democrat politicians in DC will receive less donations from the unions. Union members must pay dues out of each paycheck every month! What happens if 200,000 government jobs get eliminated? The government is the BIGGEST employer in the United States for a reason - it was designed to protects the political class. Hence, the “orchestrated fake protests” outside government buildings each day. The crowd is Congress, staffers, unions, and NGO staff, and the media… the cabal. It’s a corrupt system being funded by the public’s tax money; our taxes are being used to fund political donations (via mandated union dues) and public funding of NGO’s that are organizations that hide their progressive political agendas.
For the people not in a position to ideologize, I of course concur that it is absurd they are not back in the office. Especially if they are not back in the office at least half-time.
And I further agree that cutting off money to the NGO's is one of the most important things to be done.
P.S. Could you please cite your source for that 96% number. I sincerely doubt that it is remotely (pun intended) accurate across the entirety of the federal workforce.
It was cited in the news (4-6%) in DC. The particular point was that a massive amount of the D.C. real estate sits empty most days and the question of selling off government office buildings should be an option. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe it was mentioned in the Wall Street Journal. I also spotted it on television as well.
I dug into it, and it was a DC area non-scientific survey conducted by Federal News Network, which is unlikely to be fully representative. And it said that only that low percentage was full time in the office. But even with that survey, it noted that 64% said they had a hybrid schedule.
Hybrid home and remote is very different than fully remote. You can make a case that for many white collar jobs hybrid in fact makes a lot of sense - i.e. 3-4 days in the office, 1-2 days from home.
So your general point I very much support, but the extreme claim of work from home is pretty clearly inaccurate.
There’s no denying the “majority” of federal agency workers are spending a majority of their work week working from home - it’s a fact! GET EVERYONE ONE BACK IN THE OFFICE. Or, they can resign and get another job. You’re guaranteed nothing in life - including employment. Civil service unions convince their members they’re “guaranteed” jobs, which is a lie. The federal government wastes money and has become a welfare state itself. Enough excuses.
Because far worse than the indefensible taxpayer money going to these people is the ideologizing and election influencing they do when they DO show up and do what the Feds have given them our money for.
Thanks for putting this so succinctly and in a form that makes a great rational argument. You’re right, the time is now. It grieves me greatly to know our government’s largess is used to corrupt the next generation of children.
Good plan. NGOs that have been receiving substantial federal grants in order to function as surrogates for government and promote far left ideologies have become a huge part of the problem. It’s very difficult to know which NGOs are worthy of support, much less charitable donations. Look at a group like Catholic Charities and the terrible role it has played in facilitating illegal immigration, using grants from agencies like USAID. Where can someone find a reliable listing of NGOs with analysis of the causes they have supported in order to better inform our judgment and charitable decision-making?
Attack all three components at once. They are not interdependent, each requires a different skill set to dismantle, and resistance will be overwhelmed.
Rufo's plan for "reorganizing" DoEd is excellent. The three functions are correctly identified and his suggestions for each should be followed.
He also identifies a special problem, and that is the problem of communicating daily to the American voter what is actually being done, how it is being done and why the voters will be better off for this having been done.
Elon Musk is a"doer," but his political acumen it scant. So his "doing needs" to be complemented with communicating - clearly and frequently. This is not happening. Being on X, I see Musk's tweets. They are brief and, often, quite satirical. There are not enough people on X for this to be the sole medium of communication, and Musk's own tweets do not get the job done. If Trump's changes are to last well beyond this term, the average voter must be convinced and persuaded. Let's think about that a little more.
The electorate is like a Pareto distribution. Let's say 20% are very committed conservative and another 20% are at the other end of the political spectrum are very committed progressives. If you are conservative, then you see the top 20% as your allies and the other 80% as at best questionable (60%) and at worst enemies (20%) of your goals. Turn the distribution around about the middle and the progressive see the distribution with themselves at the top and the other 80% beneath them as uncommitted (60%) or hostile (20%).
The two groups at either end of the political spectrum are committed, so committed that they do not avoid conflict, they relish it, and they do not care how others view them, they are so certain of their position.
But politics is about the 60%. These are the so-called moderates who can be and are pulled either to the left or to the right. Without a majority of this 60% neither progressives nor conservative can prevail in any election or govern effectively. In the last election the moderate were mostly split, but a slight majority of them went to the right with Trump. Now he needs to manage and to retain them as he governs, and he has to do this against the never-ending flow of "news" from the mainstream media, members of which are almost completely in the 20% progressive camp.
By now moderates who voted for Trump are worried just three weeks into his administration. These are people who a) avoid conflict in their daily lives, let alone their political lives, and b) who want to be liked, meaning they care what other people think of them and will change their behaviors to be more likeable. These people right now are hearing exaggerations and actual falsehoods from the mainstream media and this weighs on them. Some are questioning their vote as a result. They also see conflict everywhere, and, remember, they avoid conflict at all costs. Increasingly, then some are asking themselves: "Did I do the right thing with my vote for Trump?" These people need to be reassured and stewarded, and now.
Elon Musk is a doer, but he is not a politician. I am on X so I see his tweets, they do a little to explain what is happening, but they are to brief and, often, too sarcastic to reassure the moderates who need reassurance. Further there are too few people on X to make this the only channel of communication.
It is incumbent upon President Trump to communicate what he is doing, how it is being done and why it will improve the lives of the average voter from all backgrounds. As Musk moves forward quickly, as he should, Mr. Trump needs to be the communicator-in-chief and he needs to communicate, clearly and often, even as he did in the election, so must he do as he governs. He needs to counter the constant barrage of negativity coming from the mainstream prgressive media and democratst hat opose his program and seek to pull the uncertain voter to their side. He must meet them with his own barrage of positivity.
If Trump is to leave a legacy of real, lasting and substantive change, which should be his goal, and not just one term of easily reversible changes, then he needs to keep communicating and persuading the vast 60% of voters in the middle who can go either way on political spectrum at any time, if not stewarded and made comfortable. This is the essence successful of politics in America.
There is one area in which I disagree, your use of the Pareto Distribution. While I agree with your interpretation vis-a-vis conservatives, I contend that the progressives view their 20% as the only group that has received the divine gift of wisdom from on high. The other 80% belong to Hillary Clinton’s deplorable’s and are therefore the enemy.
That is why the leftists lost. As the left are wont to do, they have become hermetically sealed in ever more extreme self-congratulatory groupthink, pushing craziness and hostility against the moderate majority, and they are only getting worse as they are exposed.
Tell me why we’re in the college loan business when universities are sitting on massive endowments? We support student indoctrination with every loan we give. I say let the colleges fund their students, not the taxpayers. I don’t want the taxpayers on the hook for defaulted women’s studies degree holders who can’t pay back their loans. Let the colleges chase them.
I keep reading solutions that don’t address the real problem. Take away funding from all the states that are utilizing the globalist ‘deliberate dumbing down of America’ -book by Charlotte Iserbyt. What do you have ? the same globalist curriculum. You have to mandate from the DOE to the states a new curriculum. I wrote a 3 page solution I condensed to 1 pg that I have Been posting on x.com. No one is reading it. Instead of ‘school choice’ - ‘MSG’- ‘make all schools great schools’ Go to my handle @SandvickC810752 to read it.
That’s like saying we shouldn’t give up on Communism - we just need to implement it better. No, Communism IS the problem. A centralized education bureaucracy that thinks it knows better than everyone what is right for everyone and has the authority to enforce its beliefs on everyone IS the problem.
lol! Your comment is very astute. We need to do a reset and implement an American common sense curriculum to replace the globalist one. Then disband the doe .
Respectfully, I don’t think Fed mandates on what the education should be are the way to go.
However, mandate that a condition of any federal funding is school choice vouchers for all, and then we can get more schools that aren’t doing leftist ideologizing.
Obama loved to mandate that all states utilize his commix core in Exchange for funding. Result is now most states use his common core. What are you saying we do? Live with common ore for 20 years til slowly but surely take over the states to put in a MAGA policy?
I'm saying make full school choice mandatory if you take one federal dollar of education funding.
I would of course eliminate the common core mandate.
Until the DOE is abolished, I'd be fine with a *recommended* curriculum much like the one you describe.
The sad truth is that leftist states in public schools are gonna teach leftist crap. With school choice at least parents in those states who care will be able to get good education for their kids.
And someday leftists will control the presidency again. In which case they would replace your imposition of curriculum with their own leftist curriculum.
I respectfully disagree that top down mandates exected by public school employees are a good idea - even if the stuff mandated I happened to like - OR that it would actually deliver what you claim (many of those leftist public school employees would surely undercut it).
Even as we agree that the leftist ideologizing in public schools today is a very bad thing.
P.S. You have a typo in your X handle above (the 5 should be a 3), making it difficult to find your x.com page.
School choice is not the solution. I wrote a 3 page solution which I had to condense into 1. School choice does not work. I can email you my 3 page. Sandvick.lee@gmail.com.
Mr. Rufo— I am all for dismantling the federal DOE. But there are federal grants through that department that I believe your readers would support. I was the project director for a federal Teaching American History grant (TAH), a program established by Robert Byrd (ironically), that was written by a colleague of mine. It was called History Through Harmony, and focused on authentic music throughout American history that illuminated life and important events from pre-revolutionary colonial America through the Civil War. It was totally non-ideological, and I was free to develop the program as I saw fit for New York City public school fourth graders. I am deeply conservative, a fact that I certainly didn't trumpet to principals and teachers. But I did imbue the lessons I created with a balanced perspective and a deep respect for the American experiment. I hope programs like these would not only be continued, but also expanded under any restructuring of the federal grant system.
There is a thriving market right now for K-12 education curricula and materials. A search quickly brings up multiple programs for teaching kids history through music. Why does the federal government need to develop another using taxpayer dollars? I am a homeschool dad in Wisconsin. Why do my tax dollars need to go toward developing a program for kids in New York City? That’s not to say your program doesn’t do good, but the use of taxpayer funds should be more scrutinized, and they should be granted and implemented on a local level as much as possible.
In principle, I agree with you. Your children are lucky to have a parent dedicated to homeschooling them. I tutor many homeschooled kids, and the experience has reinforced my faith in the country’s future. When I taught in the country’s largest public school system, 98% of them were from the lowest socioeconomic status. And of course this is New York City, the bluest of blue cities in a blue state. The chances of these kids getting a quality education in American history without help beyond the state’s borders are pretty slim. Without stats, I bet you’d find the same problem in cities like Chicago, Baltimore and Detroit. I applaud the personal investment you’ve placed in your child’s education. But we’ve got to figure out some way to imbue those less fortunate with a balanced sense of our country’s history and civics structure. Do you have suggestions?
Our homeschooling is more credit to my wife than to me, but we do enjoy it. Thanks. The idea that New York kids can’t get educated without help beyond the state’s borders is exactly the problem the current administration is trying to solve by blow up the DOE. There is no reason for so much of the education resources to flow up to a single bureaucratic (inefficient and ideologically captured) education monopoly who then doles out money back out as it sees fit. The federal government should step back and let the funds stay at the state level, where the needs are better understood and the potential for waste and corruption reduced. If the state still can’t figure out how to do better, or if the state education system is also corrupt or ideological, the state should in turn blow up and reform the state education systems. It is possible to do better than today but it requires major restructuring. I’m happy the Trump administration has the guts to take the first steps.
Great idea but why would a globalist school use your idea under their current curriculum?. I sent m idea to Betsy devos, previous doe secretary. She told me they have no power to make changes to state curriculum. How did Obama have power to implement his common core? He just mandated it. Capeesh?
Correct. I’m trying to figure out a way short of a national mandate. As a conservative, I’m all for devolving all powers possible to the states. So it’s counterintuitive. But I believe a unified curriculum of American history and civics should be a national priority. We desparately lack cultural literacy in these subjects.
we cannot ignore what obama did. In exchange for federal funding, he demanded the states implement his common core, crt, sexual grooming, DEI, etc. So if we leave it to the states, they will continue with obama’s agenda.
I have an M.Ed in curriculum design, in which I learned nothing I hadn’t learned already in the USAF, my bachelor’s program (a BS from SIU-C in “workforce education and development” which was another way of saying “designing vocational education programs”) and my teaching credentialing program in the mid-1990s which was the first place I heard that tests were racist via a required reading on CRT.
And I agree with Mr T on this question and Mr/Ms Individualist. But, even “far more harm than good” is an understatement.
In reorganizing the DOE what must NOT be forgotten are the commitments Trump made to widen education choices. Vested interests are already lining up to aggressively oppose alternatives to the one-size-fits-all public-school model — such alternatives as private schools, home schools, specialized schools, charter schools, etc. should be available to families who seek to pursue their children’s best interests. Public money for education should follow the child, not the institutions.
“Trump must shut down the Department of Education’s centers of ideological production and terminate the employment of the bureaucrats who run them. The department maintains a sprawling network of ideological centers through its research programs, as well as a vast array of NGOs, which survive on department funding and promote left-wing identity activism. These groups have become hotbeds of progressive identity politics, promoting theories of “systemic racism” and the idea that men can turn into women. Such activities do not serve the public good and do not deserve public subsidy, especially under a conservative president who promised to put an end to critical race theory and gender ideology in the federal government.”… in the long run, this is our opportunity to save our children from socialism and communism… the fact that our tax dollars are wasted here is a true abomination to our country and its founders. Use the money to give as block grants to states. Get our federal government out of the indoctrination business.
Well said. The commissars of the department of indoctrination use our tax funds to groom our children into red guards. Trump should hammer the charts that show how results have fallen as DoE funding and headcount have expanded.
From #1 in World Literacy, to 36th. Due to the DOE.
Bot.
Terry rears his head again 🤣
Struck a nerve?
you obviously don't know Mao from a cow!!
Seriously? If you read Wild Swans by Jung Chang 🦢 http://www.jungchang.net/wild-swans it’s about 3 generations of women in China & the build up to & the consequences of the Cultural Revolution; which describes how children were indoctrinated to believe that spying on their parents was a necessary « Kindness » & « real » acts of violence were acts of « compassion » because their parents & those guilty of « wrong thinking » needed to be re-educated.
Any belief system be it religious or political that insists on being the dominant belief system will be authoritarian, because the mindset can only tolerate complete acceptance & total submission. It demands complete conformity, rejects the importance of public debate & is unable to see the benefits that the flexibility of pluralism allows.
Who’s Terry?
Perhaps he'll dignify your question with a response...
Many of us figured out when Biden defied Supreme Court rulings and tried repeatedly to cancel student loan debt for millions of people, a college education is not only overrated, it's often a waste of society's resources.
The government loans tens, sometimes hundreds of $thousands to 18 year-olds for college. It should be clear from the student loan repayment track record, people of that age don't yet have judgement to evaluate the financial commitment they're taking on. Then they waste 4-5 years of their lives getting a gender/ethnic/LGBTQ studies degree that won't enable them to earn enough to repay the loan. How does that make sense for society?
Tuition inflation has outpaced high general inflation b/c of the large amounts of money artificially injected into the system through student loans. When I was in college in the 1970's and graduate school in the 1980's, student loans weren't so easy to get. I and my parents were able to pay as I went. Paying tuition out-of-pocket wasn't easy, but we did it.
Student loans should be eliminated, and replaced with grants for low-income students who have a track record of academic accomplishment. And grants should be provided for STEM degrees, not the various "studies" degrees that won't provide solid earning ability.
I agree with you except for the grants. The feds should just stay out of student education funding and leave it to the states. Even block grants should be phased out over time. I fear that any thread of funding that remains will eventually regrow into a new federal morass.
I'm all for student loans as long as they come from the institution the student is attending & are not be backed by the Feds / taxpayers.
Terry rears his head again 🤣
Struck a nerve?
Excellent response. I borrowed your comment when restacking Rufo’s article!
Terry rears his head again 🤣
Struck a nerve?
Terry rears his head again 🤣
Struck a nerve?
Troll on sweetheart!
If Trump simply messaged that the funding was going back to the states to use for education as each state saw fit, I think a lot of people would support this
Right, and it shouldn't even pass through the hands of federal goverment. The money remains with the taxpayer. If the states really need the funds they can levy tax at the state or local level. Get the fed gov out of it completeyl
But if and when we can’t get the feds out of it completely, then we should condition any fed money on allowing school choice vouchers. Else we are just sending the funding from Fed leftist ideologues to state and local public school leftist ideologues.
So true. Betsy Devos secretary told me that she did not have the power to dictate to the states using federal $. She had no comment when I asked how Obama was able to do it. Obvious answer was not he did not.
School choice means taking your kid out of their neighborhood school to drive or. U.S. to a school miles away. Tell Me how that is beneficial?
You obviously don't know what "SCHOOL CHOICE" IS.
Sorry please explain school choice. From everything I read I was guessing.
Explain.
Except in Blue states like CA. Newsom would advance his twisted ideologies even more than Fed Govt!
That is why we need the federal mandate right now. Read my solution on x.com or email me
Yes, any continued federal involvement in educational funding will eventually sprout a new federal morass. Leave it to the states to do as they please. People will notice and vote or move as they wish.
He has repeatedly stated that. The people freaking out don't want to hear that message nor do they want the people to hear and understand that message.
No!!!!!!! Sending education back to the states? Obama made sure that most schools utilized his common core globalist agenda. Almost all schools now use it. What is this school choice? You switch your kid from one globalist school to another? Not the solution! Read my solution on x.com @sandvickC10752. .
You seem to completely fail to understand that school choice means the ability to use taxpayer money to send your child to a *private* school, not merely to a better public school.
Private schools are not bound to any federally or state mandated agenda.
The single best way by far to improve education for the largest number would be to break the government quasi-monopoly over running schools.
That is what school choice enables.
ok. understand. So you take your kid out of the bad school in your neighborhood and ship him or her off to a charter school -could be miles away. Another element not being discussed. We have to reverse obama's common core to all states by mandating an American curriculum then disband the DOE. Capeesh? Please read and let me know what you think. Been posting it and emailing it, trying to get it to Pres Trump and Linda McMahon. Thanks.-------------------
OPEN LETTER TO: President DONALD J TRUMP and Dept of Educ Secretary LINDA McMAHON.
Globalists have weaned out of us the creative ‘out-of-the-box’ abilities, entrepreneurship and patriotic spirit Americans have always been known for. That is why America is ranked #40 out of 40 countries. The Dept of Education Secretary needs to mandate to all states the following policy- ‘MSG’ – MAKE ALL SCHOOLS – GREAT SCHOOLS’ then disband. If not, the globalist agenda will remain in school curriculum. Capeesh:? Obama mandated his Common Core curriculum to all public schools. So the DOE must quickly re-awaken that American creative entrepreneur patriotic spirit in our youth along with everyone else who was educated in this globalist curriculum for last 63 years. We don’t have much time. Democrats want their power back-Nov 2026.
My 3 Part Curriculum: (PART 1 OF 3). In exchange for federal funding, all public schools to rip out the current globalist curriculum and replace with a new commonsense American curriculum being developed. Get all School Boards under ‘MAGA’ control. Recruit teachers from your MAGA Army in all industries.
(PART 2 OF 3) Restore the moral compass in our youth. James Madison, one of the original founding fathers of our constitution. “..We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments...”
Back in 1962, 10 Commandments (Thou Shalt Not Kill, Steal, Covet, etc.) were taken out of schools and globalists won’t let them back in. Mandate a call to action to all public high school principals for their students to rewrite/convert the 10 commandments into their own language entitled ie ’10 Life Rules’ that they can easily relate to and discuss thus bypassing the will of the globalists. Also you must solve the 8 challenges addressed in article “Why U.S. Children are Killing by JB Williams – August 19, 2019, news with views (period) com.
(PART 3 of 3): Take 1 class period daily to be split into 2 subjects: ie Creativity 101 and America 101
• 1st class: “Creativity 101: – (2 days a week). Provide the atmosphere to encourage students to start thinking outside the box. Students would be free to: Dream, Draw, Design, Build, Paint, Sculpt, Write, Imagine! Jr-Achievement would be encouraged to work with students in grades 9 thru 12.
• 2nd class: “America 101” (the other 3 days). Learn about America including civics. Richard Dreyfuss (Founder, The Dreyfuss Initiative) ”..To teach our kids how to run our country, before they are called upon to run our country…if we don’t, someone else will run our country..”. Learn about our Founders’ monument (Plymouth, Massachusetts) thru documentary produced by Kirk Cameron – Monumental Movie com). Study and discuss the book that explains the 28 principles that went into creating our founding documents ‘5,000 Year Leap’ by W. Cleon Skousen.. Glenn Beck’s book review: “….Once students are aware how precious America is, they will appreciate it more. It’s one of the most important books on restoring America to its original principles….The nation America’s founders built is now in the throes of a political, economic, social and spiritual crisis that has driven many to an almost frantic search for modern solutions. The truth is that the solutions have been available for a long time – in the writings of this nation’s Founding Fathers – and carefully set forth in this incredible book…It’s the book Ronald Reagan wanted taught in high schools, and Ted Kennedy stopped it from happening. That should tell you all you need to know. … When you read these principles, your mouth will fall open. … The scales will fall off your eyes on who we are.…It will help you understand American free enterprise. You’ll be able to defend it. You’ll be able to know what makes it possible for 6 percent of humanity living under our free economy to produce one-half of the Earth’s developed wealth every single year…..”
Our Republic is not a spectator sport so to restore it, please tell your MAGA army to join at least 1 of 5 national organizations to stay connected. Join Precinct Strategy com. Urge your MAGA Army to run for office in 2026 or actively support those who are. Form Freedom Pods in every city (details at: American Policy org).
Please implement ‘MSG’ – MAKE ALL SCHOOLS – GREAT SCHOOLS.
Dude,
I did NOT say charter school. Those are still public schools.
I said PRIVATE school.
And you continue to have nothing to say about how well implemented the education is going to be when it is a bunch of leftist union public school employees who are delivering your curricula.
Yes. The leftists on the school boards now will surely implement the same agenda after the time federal funding ends
Which is another strong reason to disempower leftist school boards from indoctrinating the children of parents who care enough to want to avoid this by requiring school choice of any state taking federal money.
If leftist states and local school boards want to do their leftism without taking federal taxpayer money, there isn’t much we can - or imo should try to - do about it.
Aside from the market radicalism regarding student loans I basically support this. I'm not conservative but I reject postmodernist ideology (especially gender ideology) that I do not consider to be "leftist" in the traditional sense because how exactly has the postmodernist gobbledygook advanced the lives of working class people? It has not. It's also viciously misogynistic. It has only created an elitist academic bureaucracy – many of whom are from the humanities who would otherwise be flipping burgers because their "social justice" degrees are useless in the real world. They're only purpose is "terrorizing" everyone with woke nonsense, creating an atmosphere of distrust among the work force that they artificially divide into minorities competing for the highest victimhood status. It has achieved exactly nothing for working class people including black people. So good riddance.
The key to the loans crisis is to make the universities themselves liable for defaults. That would motivate them to up their game.
The key is to hold students liable for their debt. The market will eventually sort it out, and probably quite quickly.
Great write up Chris.
Here in the UK the Labour government (read Democrati going on Marxist) are hell bent on reducing our schools from Academies with currently the highest position in the West for reading, to Comprehensives a standard of mediocrity lower than this is hard to imagine.
Go Trump, we need your approach here in the UK !
Apparently Sir Keir Stalin is very busy these days ....
Yes he's busy getting enough Air Miles so he can be on the first manned flight to Mars. Should we tell Elon do you think ?
Round trip is not guaranteed.
Good 👍
The DOE much like USAID are only pieces within a great repository of agencies that are employing political operatives and patronage hires to continue the machine politics in D.C. The city of Washing DC has grown into a behemoth of no-show jobs protected by civil service unions. There is no public outcry or protest against the elimination or dismantling of these cash grab agencies; however, the “organized” and “staged” demonstrations and speeches your witnessing on television are being staged by the DNC, Democrats in Congress, Unions, NGO’s and the corporate legacy media. These organizations are the cabal that brought you the “Russiagate” propaganda for 4 years! These organizations are terrified they are losing their funding through the elimination of government agencies. THEIR GIG, GRAFT, SCHEME IS ENDING! THEY GOT CAUGHT! The funds that propelled these agencies should be used to help the victims of hurricanes in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida that were neglected by FEMA.
I differ with you primarily on the “no show” comment - I would rather that the leftist ideologues not show up and so not amplify their ideologizing, even if we’re paying them, then have them “earn” their pay…
I agree with you on the ideological points you’ve made. But, 96% percent of the federal workforce isn’t going to work each day. Can you do that do that at your job? We need to run the federal government like the private sector. The NGO’s and civil service unions are terrified by DOGE because their funding will evaporate and the Democrat politicians in DC will receive less donations from the unions. Union members must pay dues out of each paycheck every month! What happens if 200,000 government jobs get eliminated? The government is the BIGGEST employer in the United States for a reason - it was designed to protects the political class. Hence, the “orchestrated fake protests” outside government buildings each day. The crowd is Congress, staffers, unions, and NGO staff, and the media… the cabal. It’s a corrupt system being funded by the public’s tax money; our taxes are being used to fund political donations (via mandated union dues) and public funding of NGO’s that are organizations that hide their progressive political agendas.
seems like the remaining 3-4% of the "so-called" govt workforce is now taking the week off to protest Trump and Musk!!
Hey, I just thought of another oxymoron,
"Government work-force"
what a bunch of morons, and Maxine or Chuck Screwmer can't carry a tune or lead a chant either!
Keep at it Elon and DOGE.
rich
For the people not in a position to ideologize, I of course concur that it is absurd they are not back in the office. Especially if they are not back in the office at least half-time.
And I further agree that cutting off money to the NGO's is one of the most important things to be done.
P.S. Could you please cite your source for that 96% number. I sincerely doubt that it is remotely (pun intended) accurate across the entirety of the federal workforce.
It was cited in the news (4-6%) in DC. The particular point was that a massive amount of the D.C. real estate sits empty most days and the question of selling off government office buildings should be an option. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe it was mentioned in the Wall Street Journal. I also spotted it on television as well.
ok.
I dug into it, and it was a DC area non-scientific survey conducted by Federal News Network, which is unlikely to be fully representative. And it said that only that low percentage was full time in the office. But even with that survey, it noted that 64% said they had a hybrid schedule.
Hybrid home and remote is very different than fully remote. You can make a case that for many white collar jobs hybrid in fact makes a lot of sense - i.e. 3-4 days in the office, 1-2 days from home.
So your general point I very much support, but the extreme claim of work from home is pretty clearly inaccurate.
There’s no denying the “majority” of federal agency workers are spending a majority of their work week working from home - it’s a fact! GET EVERYONE ONE BACK IN THE OFFICE. Or, they can resign and get another job. You’re guaranteed nothing in life - including employment. Civil service unions convince their members they’re “guaranteed” jobs, which is a lie. The federal government wastes money and has become a welfare state itself. Enough excuses.
Agreed with all but the “no show” claim.
Because far worse than the indefensible taxpayer money going to these people is the ideologizing and election influencing they do when they DO show up and do what the Feds have given them our money for.
Thanks for putting this so succinctly and in a form that makes a great rational argument. You’re right, the time is now. It grieves me greatly to know our government’s largess is used to corrupt the next generation of children.
Good plan. NGOs that have been receiving substantial federal grants in order to function as surrogates for government and promote far left ideologies have become a huge part of the problem. It’s very difficult to know which NGOs are worthy of support, much less charitable donations. Look at a group like Catholic Charities and the terrible role it has played in facilitating illegal immigration, using grants from agencies like USAID. Where can someone find a reliable listing of NGOs with analysis of the causes they have supported in order to better inform our judgment and charitable decision-making?
Agreed. The likes of soros, gates, etc routinely use ngos.
Attack all three components at once. They are not interdependent, each requires a different skill set to dismantle, and resistance will be overwhelmed.
Rufo's plan for "reorganizing" DoEd is excellent. The three functions are correctly identified and his suggestions for each should be followed.
He also identifies a special problem, and that is the problem of communicating daily to the American voter what is actually being done, how it is being done and why the voters will be better off for this having been done.
Elon Musk is a"doer," but his political acumen it scant. So his "doing needs" to be complemented with communicating - clearly and frequently. This is not happening. Being on X, I see Musk's tweets. They are brief and, often, quite satirical. There are not enough people on X for this to be the sole medium of communication, and Musk's own tweets do not get the job done. If Trump's changes are to last well beyond this term, the average voter must be convinced and persuaded. Let's think about that a little more.
The electorate is like a Pareto distribution. Let's say 20% are very committed conservative and another 20% are at the other end of the political spectrum are very committed progressives. If you are conservative, then you see the top 20% as your allies and the other 80% as at best questionable (60%) and at worst enemies (20%) of your goals. Turn the distribution around about the middle and the progressive see the distribution with themselves at the top and the other 80% beneath them as uncommitted (60%) or hostile (20%).
The two groups at either end of the political spectrum are committed, so committed that they do not avoid conflict, they relish it, and they do not care how others view them, they are so certain of their position.
But politics is about the 60%. These are the so-called moderates who can be and are pulled either to the left or to the right. Without a majority of this 60% neither progressives nor conservative can prevail in any election or govern effectively. In the last election the moderate were mostly split, but a slight majority of them went to the right with Trump. Now he needs to manage and to retain them as he governs, and he has to do this against the never-ending flow of "news" from the mainstream media, members of which are almost completely in the 20% progressive camp.
By now moderates who voted for Trump are worried just three weeks into his administration. These are people who a) avoid conflict in their daily lives, let alone their political lives, and b) who want to be liked, meaning they care what other people think of them and will change their behaviors to be more likeable. These people right now are hearing exaggerations and actual falsehoods from the mainstream media and this weighs on them. Some are questioning their vote as a result. They also see conflict everywhere, and, remember, they avoid conflict at all costs. Increasingly, then some are asking themselves: "Did I do the right thing with my vote for Trump?" These people need to be reassured and stewarded, and now.
Elon Musk is a doer, but he is not a politician. I am on X so I see his tweets, they do a little to explain what is happening, but they are to brief and, often, too sarcastic to reassure the moderates who need reassurance. Further there are too few people on X to make this the only channel of communication.
It is incumbent upon President Trump to communicate what he is doing, how it is being done and why it will improve the lives of the average voter from all backgrounds. As Musk moves forward quickly, as he should, Mr. Trump needs to be the communicator-in-chief and he needs to communicate, clearly and often, even as he did in the election, so must he do as he governs. He needs to counter the constant barrage of negativity coming from the mainstream prgressive media and democratst hat opose his program and seek to pull the uncertain voter to their side. He must meet them with his own barrage of positivity.
If Trump is to leave a legacy of real, lasting and substantive change, which should be his goal, and not just one term of easily reversible changes, then he needs to keep communicating and persuading the vast 60% of voters in the middle who can go either way on political spectrum at any time, if not stewarded and made comfortable. This is the essence successful of politics in America.
There is one area in which I disagree, your use of the Pareto Distribution. While I agree with your interpretation vis-a-vis conservatives, I contend that the progressives view their 20% as the only group that has received the divine gift of wisdom from on high. The other 80% belong to Hillary Clinton’s deplorable’s and are therefore the enemy.
That is why the leftists lost. As the left are wont to do, they have become hermetically sealed in ever more extreme self-congratulatory groupthink, pushing craziness and hostility against the moderate majority, and they are only getting worse as they are exposed.
Really? Weird...
I think we agree.
Is this an echo?
Please respond at the arguments with reasoned arguments, not ad hominem temper tantrums that would make a 5 year old proud.
You are so funny! There are trolls, but then there are TROLLS!!! You are troll...just a small letter troll...
Holy mackerel it is an echo, echo, echo!
Excellent description of President Trump’s effort to dismantle DOE!
Tell me why we’re in the college loan business when universities are sitting on massive endowments? We support student indoctrination with every loan we give. I say let the colleges fund their students, not the taxpayers. I don’t want the taxpayers on the hook for defaulted women’s studies degree holders who can’t pay back their loans. Let the colleges chase them.
100% correct. Give scholarships to those who can't afford it. Make the endowments fund it. End of story.
We have student loans because would-be college students and their parents vote.
Most student loans don't go to students at the handful of private schools sitting on massive endowments.
I keep reading solutions that don’t address the real problem. Take away funding from all the states that are utilizing the globalist ‘deliberate dumbing down of America’ -book by Charlotte Iserbyt. What do you have ? the same globalist curriculum. You have to mandate from the DOE to the states a new curriculum. I wrote a 3 page solution I condensed to 1 pg that I have Been posting on x.com. No one is reading it. Instead of ‘school choice’ - ‘MSG’- ‘make all schools great schools’ Go to my handle @SandvickC810752 to read it.
That’s like saying we shouldn’t give up on Communism - we just need to implement it better. No, Communism IS the problem. A centralized education bureaucracy that thinks it knows better than everyone what is right for everyone and has the authority to enforce its beliefs on everyone IS the problem.
lol! Your comment is very astute. We need to do a reset and implement an American common sense curriculum to replace the globalist one. Then disband the doe .
I never said communism. I learned (on Glenn beck) that China was working w globalists to wean the American spirit out of our students
Respectfully, I don’t think Fed mandates on what the education should be are the way to go.
However, mandate that a condition of any federal funding is school choice vouchers for all, and then we can get more schools that aren’t doing leftist ideologizing.
Obama loved to mandate that all states utilize his commix core in Exchange for funding. Result is now most states use his common core. What are you saying we do? Live with common ore for 20 years til slowly but surely take over the states to put in a MAGA policy?
I'm saying make full school choice mandatory if you take one federal dollar of education funding.
I would of course eliminate the common core mandate.
Until the DOE is abolished, I'd be fine with a *recommended* curriculum much like the one you describe.
The sad truth is that leftist states in public schools are gonna teach leftist crap. With school choice at least parents in those states who care will be able to get good education for their kids.
And someday leftists will control the presidency again. In which case they would replace your imposition of curriculum with their own leftist curriculum.
FYI. I love political discourse
Yikes! That could take years. Please get on x and read m condensed one page. Also like if you agree. Lee
I respectfully disagree that top down mandates exected by public school employees are a good idea - even if the stuff mandated I happened to like - OR that it would actually deliver what you claim (many of those leftist public school employees would surely undercut it).
Even as we agree that the leftist ideologizing in public schools today is a very bad thing.
P.S. You have a typo in your X handle above (the 5 should be a 3), making it difficult to find your x.com page.
Sorry. Did you find it? Lee
Yes, I did.
Which is how I knew what the mistyped number was.
You can go edit your previous to put in the correct number
School choice is not the solution. I wrote a 3 page solution which I had to condense into 1. School choice does not work. I can email you my 3 page. Sandvick.lee@gmail.com.
Is there anywhere else one could read it?
Email me and I will send. Sandvick.lee@gmail.com
Mr. Rufo— I am all for dismantling the federal DOE. But there are federal grants through that department that I believe your readers would support. I was the project director for a federal Teaching American History grant (TAH), a program established by Robert Byrd (ironically), that was written by a colleague of mine. It was called History Through Harmony, and focused on authentic music throughout American history that illuminated life and important events from pre-revolutionary colonial America through the Civil War. It was totally non-ideological, and I was free to develop the program as I saw fit for New York City public school fourth graders. I am deeply conservative, a fact that I certainly didn't trumpet to principals and teachers. But I did imbue the lessons I created with a balanced perspective and a deep respect for the American experiment. I hope programs like these would not only be continued, but also expanded under any restructuring of the federal grant system.
There is a thriving market right now for K-12 education curricula and materials. A search quickly brings up multiple programs for teaching kids history through music. Why does the federal government need to develop another using taxpayer dollars? I am a homeschool dad in Wisconsin. Why do my tax dollars need to go toward developing a program for kids in New York City? That’s not to say your program doesn’t do good, but the use of taxpayer funds should be more scrutinized, and they should be granted and implemented on a local level as much as possible.
In principle, I agree with you. Your children are lucky to have a parent dedicated to homeschooling them. I tutor many homeschooled kids, and the experience has reinforced my faith in the country’s future. When I taught in the country’s largest public school system, 98% of them were from the lowest socioeconomic status. And of course this is New York City, the bluest of blue cities in a blue state. The chances of these kids getting a quality education in American history without help beyond the state’s borders are pretty slim. Without stats, I bet you’d find the same problem in cities like Chicago, Baltimore and Detroit. I applaud the personal investment you’ve placed in your child’s education. But we’ve got to figure out some way to imbue those less fortunate with a balanced sense of our country’s history and civics structure. Do you have suggestions?
Our homeschooling is more credit to my wife than to me, but we do enjoy it. Thanks. The idea that New York kids can’t get educated without help beyond the state’s borders is exactly the problem the current administration is trying to solve by blow up the DOE. There is no reason for so much of the education resources to flow up to a single bureaucratic (inefficient and ideologically captured) education monopoly who then doles out money back out as it sees fit. The federal government should step back and let the funds stay at the state level, where the needs are better understood and the potential for waste and corruption reduced. If the state still can’t figure out how to do better, or if the state education system is also corrupt or ideological, the state should in turn blow up and reform the state education systems. It is possible to do better than today but it requires major restructuring. I’m happy the Trump administration has the guts to take the first steps.
Great idea but why would a globalist school use your idea under their current curriculum?. I sent m idea to Betsy devos, previous doe secretary. She told me they have no power to make changes to state curriculum. How did Obama have power to implement his common core? He just mandated it. Capeesh?
Correct. I’m trying to figure out a way short of a national mandate. As a conservative, I’m all for devolving all powers possible to the states. So it’s counterintuitive. But I believe a unified curriculum of American history and civics should be a national priority. We desparately lack cultural literacy in these subjects.
we cannot ignore what obama did. In exchange for federal funding, he demanded the states implement his common core, crt, sexual grooming, DEI, etc. So if we leave it to the states, they will continue with obama’s agenda.
I have a master's degree in educational administration, and I couldn't agree more that the DOE does far more harm than good.
I have an M.Ed in curriculum design, in which I learned nothing I hadn’t learned already in the USAF, my bachelor’s program (a BS from SIU-C in “workforce education and development” which was another way of saying “designing vocational education programs”) and my teaching credentialing program in the mid-1990s which was the first place I heard that tests were racist via a required reading on CRT.
And I agree with Mr T on this question and Mr/Ms Individualist. But, even “far more harm than good” is an understatement.
In reorganizing the DOE what must NOT be forgotten are the commitments Trump made to widen education choices. Vested interests are already lining up to aggressively oppose alternatives to the one-size-fits-all public-school model — such alternatives as private schools, home schools, specialized schools, charter schools, etc. should be available to families who seek to pursue their children’s best interests. Public money for education should follow the child, not the institutions.