Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) may have introduced the shortest piece of legislation when he handed in a bill to eliminate the Department of Education.

I just introduced a bill to abolish the federal Dept of Education: https://t.co/hcYr2QzIfI #EndFedEd — Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 7, 2017

Weirdly enough, he submitted the bill on the same day the Senate confirmed Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education.

That’s right. All the bill says is, “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2018.”

In a statement, Massie said:

“Neither Congress nor the President, through his appointees, has the constitutional authority to dictate how and what our children must learn.” Massie added, “Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development. States and local communities are best positioned to shape curricula that meet the needs of their students. Schools should be accountable. Parents have the right to choose the most appropriate educational opportunity for their children, including home school, public school, or private school.”

He is 100% correct. When I covered Common Core at Breitbart, I spoke with many state legislators and so many of them on both sides of the aisle stated that education should be as local as possible.

President Jimmy Carter (because of course it was him) established the Department of Education as a debt to the National Education Association, the largest labor union. The group endorsed him, its first ever endorsement, “when Walter Mondale promised them, at an NEA annual meeting, that the Carter administration would form an education department.”

President Ronald Reagan tried to dissolve the department, but unfortunately it never happened.

Massie has support from other House Republicans:

House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (Utah) and Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Jody Hice (Ga.), Walter Jones (N.C.) and Raúl Labrador (Idaho).

Here are a few statements:

“For years, I have advocated returning education policy to where it belongs – the state and local level,” said Rep. Walter Jones, an original co-sponsor. “D.C. bureaucrats cannot begin to understand the needs of schools and its students on an individual basis. It is time that we get the feds out of the classroom, and terminate the Department of Education.” “I’ve always been a proponent of empowering parents, teachers and local school boards who best know our children and their needs,” said Rep. Raul Labrador, another original co-sponsor. “Eliminating the U.S. Department of Education is the most important step we in Congress can take in returning decision making to the local level.” “Education of our students should lie primarily with parents, teachers, and state and local officials who know how to meet their individual needs best,” said freshman Rep. Andy Biggs. “Since its inception, the Department of Education has grown into an unrecognizable federal beast, and its policies have helped foster Common Core across the country. It is time the one-size-fits-all approach by the federal government is ended and authority is returned to the local level.”

Go get them, Rep. Massie! I mean, come on. The budget for the department in 2017? Take a guess. $69.4 BILLION. That is an increase of $1.3 BILLION from 2016.



