Day 108–March 20, 2025
Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for the elimination of the United States Department of Education. This follows last week’s termination of half of the department’s staff. Trump stated that “we're going to be returning education, very simply, back to the states where it belongs.”
As with most of Trump’s “policies,” public polls show strong opposition (63% opposition in one February poll) to the dismantling of the Department of Education. Only 37% supported its elimination.
But the real story of education policy in America—its present and future—came in the form of some of the special guests to the announcement…
The Company He Keeps
While there were students there for the photo-op, there were also a number of other prominent politicians at the scene. And the old saying that “you are judged by the company you keep” certainly applies here…
Because the governors who were there to cheer on this latest attack on public education all have one thing in common beyond their party affiliation: they are all pursuing disastrous education privatization schemes in their states.
And while some were early movers along the reckless and destructive path, and others are new entrants, the results in these states—by every measure—are all the same: abominable.
Which means the collective presence of these governors foreshadows two things:
First, it’s a clear indication of what policies will be coming next. Because when Trump says “we're going to be returning education…back to the states,” it is in the hands of governors like these that the money will be flowing. And that means a doubling down on the privatization mania being cheered on by the far right, a cabal of billionaires, and the growing sector of companies who profit from the pilfering of public education funds.
Second, the state these governors represent provide a ghastly preview of how those policies and special interests render untold damage to schools, kids, families and communities. Bottom line: they are destroying public education in these states.
Here’s a quick look at their trail of terrible results:
Florida (Gov. DeSantis)
Florida was one of the first movers in school privatization. Arguably the longest test run. So what’s happening there is a good preview of what will be happening down the road across the nation.
The cost of its universal voucher program now tops $4 billion annually.
That cost is becoming an ever greater share of Florida’s overall education budget, leading to cuts to public schools.
70% of Florida voucher recipients previously attended private schools; this is simply a rebate
According to the Florida Policy Institute: “Vouchers remove resources for public schools in an already chronically underfunded system in which Florida is ranked 50th in average teacher pay…and received an ‘F’ grade…in per pupil funding.” Because “there are no income limits on [Florida] vouchers and no numeric caps on the number of vouchers awarded…spending will only increase.”
Ohio (Gov. DeWine)
As I and others have documented at length, Ohio’s venture into privitazing schools has been one, long rolling catastrophe—marked by scams, scandals, terrible outcomes and higher taxes. A state with the 5th highest ranked education system as recently as 2010 now finds itself in the mid-20s after its combination of out-of-control private charter schools and universal vouchers took hold. Where the Ohio constitution mandates that the state fund a single system of “common schools,” Ohio is essentially attempting to lift up three systems—and all three are failing as a result:
the state continues to underfund its public schools while forking more than $1 billion each to its charter and voucher systems
the vast majority of vouchers are now going to pay for families who 1) already went to private schools and 2) could already afford those schools
outcomes of those who do use vouchers to go from public to private schools are startlingly bad (well below than if students had attended the public school where they live)
there is no accountability or transparency for how these billions are spent
property taxes have skyrocketed as local districts are forced to fill the gap of the state’s underfunding of public schools
vouchers are resegregating Ohio’s classrooms
Indiana (Gov. Braun)
Indiana has pushed privatization schemes for a generation, with only declining education outcomes to show for it. But despite those poor results, Indiana Republicans are doubling down.
The recent expansion in Indiana’s voucher program pushed its annual cost up to $500 million by 2024. And in “178 of the 349 private schools that accept vouchers, more than 90% of students enrolled used a voucher to pay for tuition.” That means these are almost entirely publicly funded schools, but run privately.
And as with the other states, “roughly 67.5 percent of students using a voucher have no record of prior attendance at an Indiana public school in 2023-24.”
Overall education outcomes have fallen since Indiana began directing public funds to private schools: “In 2008, when the Daniels administration expanded school choice, Indiana’s economy was already suffering from poor educational outcomes. The bellwether measure — adult educational attainment—was then a whopping 6.5 percentage points below the nation as a whole. By 2019, it had collapsed to 9.1 percentage points below….With almost a quarter-century of school choice, Indiana’s economy is in a relatively worse place today, with a less-educated workforce and declining relative wages. The prognosis is for more of the same.
Poor educational outcomes are the fundamental cause of our economic woes. Recent cuts to education spending have magnified the problem.”
Iowa (Gov. Reynolds):
While public schools are seeing funding dry up, the cost of Iowa’s recently expanded private voucher program is exploding—and will amount to $1 billion in its first four years. As in most states, “the cost of Reynolds’ private school voucher program has consistently blown past estimates.”
“Two-thirds of students who received a private school voucher in Iowa this year were already enrolled in private school, according to new data from the Iowa Department of Education.”
As in other states, a study found that with the flood of voucher money, private schools in Iowa are raising their tuition.
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Despite state after state experiencing the same disastrous outcomes, other states continue to join the club. And they too were represented at the White House yesterday:
Tennessee: (Gov. Lee)
After years of trying, Tennessee finally passed its voucher program in early 2025.
Its estimated to cost over $1 billion in its first five years—but if other states are any example, the actual cost will blow right through these estimates.
Incredibly, the state’s own review of the program estimated the “two-thirds of the families expected to receive that money are already enrolled in private school, according to a state review.” (They don’t even try to hide this reality anymore!)
Idaho (Gov. Little)
This year, Idaho too began its plunge, offering tax credits to offset the tuition of private schools. The initial cost is $50 million.
No surprise, within months, the cost of administering that program was more than twice what had been estimated.
Texas (Abbott)
For a number of years, bipartisan opposition—with rural Texas Republicans admirably joining Democrats in opposition—managed to stop voucher bills. But Betsy DeVos and other pro-voucher billionaires dumped millions into GOP primaries in 2024 to defeat almost all of those recalcitrant Republicans.
Now, both the Texas Senate and House are pushing bills forward that would allocate $1 billion to a new universal voucher program, as in other states. Estimates are that the costs would explode to $7 billion by 2028-2029.
Critics are decrying the looming loss of funds to Texas public schools, where the state already “spends more than $5,000 less per student than the national average…[and where] Texas teachers are paid, on average, more than $9,000 less than their national peers.”
“The simple truth is that Texas taxpayers cannot afford two separate education systems, one public and one private. And they cannot afford to give tax subsidies to upper-income families with kids already in private school, many of whom would receive vouchers under the Senate bill.”
Virginia (Gov. Youngkin)
The only state whose Governor was in attendance not on this path of destruction was Virginia—and that’s because Democrats are in the majority of that state’s legislature and are standing up for public education.
No coincidence, of the states represented yesterday, Virginia’s system of education ranks the highest.
Lesson: win statehouse seats wherever you can if you want to save public education!
Bottom line:
When Trump promised yesterday that “we're going to be returning education…back to the states where it belongs,” he wasn’t kidding.
And as the governors in attendance make clear, he’s essentially promising to hand education (and federal education dollars) over to a bought-and-paid-for approach that is rapidly destroying public education.
Patriot of the Week: Judge Boasberg
I was on jury duty the first two weeks of March. Murder trial. Difficult case.
On the last day of trial, as both sides finished closing arguments, a relative of the defendant leapt up and disrupted the proceedings.
We had to leave the courtroom, but apparently he didn’t heed the judge’s warnings to cease. And he ended up spending a day in jail for contempt.
That’s what happens.
If everyday Americans face swift accountability for contempt of court, so should the most powerful as they do the same. And I’ve come to conclude that the reason we’ve seen so much lawlessness in recent years at all levels has been a complete lack of accountability for those in power.
This week’s Patriot of the Week is one federal judge who appears to understand this reality.
After the Trump Administration openly defied his order to halt deportation flights being made on flimsy legal ground, Judge James Boasberg demanded answers to the precise timeline of their actions. Unsatisfied with the initial answers and evasions (he called them “woefully insufficient,”) he’s given them a deadline for next week to fess up:
By March 25, 2025, Defendants shall file a brief showing cause why they did not violate the Court’s Temporary Restraining Orders by failing to return class members removed from the United States on the two earliest planes that departed on March 15, 2025.
You can read the full order HERE.
Judge Boasberg must hold their feet to the fire—and hold them accountable. Federal judges above him must also hold the line.
Anything less only invites more lawlessness.
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