“Nice!” I enthused. “He’s downsizing the federal footprint, pushing again on DEI, combating antisemitism, taking over campus craziness, and championing faculty alternative. It’s outstanding.”
“Sounds promising,” she stated.
“Yep,” I stated. “For those who’re a conservative, it’s like a sunny morning after 4 years of rain. We’re getting again to commonsense ideas, empowering states and reining in authorities.”
She paused. “However I simply heard the opposite day that the president is making a federal job drive to get AI into lecture rooms. And I do know he despatched some letter to Harvard telling them to make an entire bunch of adjustments. That doesn’t sound prefer it’s getting Washington out of schooling.”
“Properly, you’re mixing up apples and oranges,” I stated. “You see, somebody has to ensure our college students are ready for a world with AI. Similar together with his new govt orders on apprenticeships or faculty self-discipline—there are occasions after we want the federal authorities to step up and lead. As for Harvard, it failed to handle antisemitism, so the president needed to crack down.”
“However that makes it sound such as you need Washington to be fairly lively in schooling,” she stated. “I’m confused, as a result of I believed you simply stated that the president wished to downsize the federal function. I imply, doesn’t he wish to abolish the Division of Training?”
“Not ‘abolish,’ he desires to ‘dismantle’ it,” I stated. “The president’s govt order about it suggests the Secretary of Training hold engaged on that. He desires to interrupt the division into items after which ship these to different businesses.”
“Why?” she requested.
“As a result of the Division has change into a one-stop store for the academics unions, faculties, and left-wing curiosity teams. This can supply a recent begin. Plus, the president is attempting to empower the states and shrink the federal function.”
“I get that. But it surely appears harmful to do away with the Division of Training when there are college students who’ve particular wants, like my niece, or want Pell Grants to pay for faculty. Whether or not it’s ‘abolishing’ or ‘dismantling,’ my concern is that these {dollars} will go away,” she stated.
“Nope, that’s simply not so,” I stated. “They’re not reducing these packages. All these funds will nonetheless be going out—the president desires Congress to maintain that each one regular. He’s simply saying the cash will probably be managed from one other company, just like the Division of Well being and Human Providers.”
“Properly, in that case, I don’t get why it’s so vital to ‘dismantle’ the Division of Training,” she stated.
I sighed. Clearly, she simply didn’t get it. “Look, the president is driving massive adjustments. That’s what you need to give attention to. For example, he’s minimize the variety of bureaucrats on the Division of Training by virtually half,” I stated.
“Now that’s spectacular!” she stated. “I’ll guess that’s an enormous financial savings on the federal finances for schooling, proper?”
“It’s just a little exhausting to make sure,” I admitted. “I imply, we don’t have any actual numbers from the federal authorities. However I’ve guessed that the financial savings are most likely round $400 million.”
“So, what’s that? Like a 25 p.c minimize in what Washington spends on schooling?” she requested.
“Umm, it’s nearer to half a p.c,” I stated.
I noticed her eyes widen within the rearview mirror. “Wait, what?” she stated. “One-half of 1 p.c?”
