WASHINGTON, D.C – Last week, Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) introduced the Returning Education to Our States Act. This bill eliminates the Department of Education and returns control of education policy and funding to the states through federal block grants. It transfers key programs, like student aid, vocational training, and special education, to other federal agencies while preserving protections like FERPA and Title IX. The bill ensures a smooth transition and maintains civil rights enforcement and continuity of services during the process.
Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.): “While the average Dept of Ed bureaucrat makes twice as much as a teacher in Indiana, our national test scores are near historic lows. That money should be returned to the states to empower parents, teachers, and local leaders. Congress has a golden opportunity to codify President Trump’s executive actions. This bill does that. It’s a win for American education.”
Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.): “We all know that teachers, parents, local school boards and state Departments of Education know what’s best for their students, not bureaucrats in Washington. The Department of Education was created to collect education data and advise state and local organizations on best practices. Since then, it has become an oversized bureaucracy that dictates one-size-fits-all policies, standards, and practices for students nationwide. The Returning Education to Our States Act would preserve important programs and federal funding while eliminating the bureaucracy of the Department of Education. This has been a priority of mine for years, and it’s one that President Trump shares. I look forward to working with the President, Secretary McMahon, and the rest of the administration to get this legislation across the finish line and return education decisions to the state and local levels where they belong.”
Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) is also a cosponsor.
Key Provisions of the Returning Education to Our States Act are:
- Downsize the Role of the Federal Government by altogether terminating the U.S. Department of Education, which has cost the U.S. billions of dollars in wasteful spending over the years
- Empower Agencies and State Delegations by transferring powers to local governments so that citizens of their communities can make decisions.
- Embolden the Future of the American Education System by bringing the power of education back to the people, enforcing a curriculum based on merit and basic subject learning rather than an infiltrated curriculum implemented under the Biden Administration.
Full bill text can be found here.
Background:
The Department of Education (Department) was created in 1979 to collect data and advise schools across the U.S. on best practices. In the 45 years since then, it has grown into an oversized bureaucracy with a budget that’s 449 percent larger than it was at its founding. Despite the Department spending $16,000 per student per year, standardized test scores have been dropping over the past ten years, further displaying the Department’s ineffectiveness on American students’ education quality. Any grants or funding from the Department are only given to states and educational institutions in exchange for adopting the Department’s one-size-fits-all standards.
Read more on the Returning Education to Our States Act here.
