Future of the Department of Education: Local leaders weigh in on potential impact

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — Democratic Congresswoman Lois Frankel was joined by teachers' union representatives and some retired educators at a press event Monday morning outside the Dreyfoos School in West Palm Beach. The purpose was to warn constituents about the dire consequences of dismantling the Federal Department of Education, which was created by Congress in 1979.

Representative Frankel thinks getting rid of the Department of Education will strip our public schools of vital resources. "They're not going to give the appropriate money to the state. It's not going to happen. Gutting the Department of Education is going to cause an overflow in the classrooms, in other words, force teacher layoffs. It's going to increase class sizes, reduce support for students with disabilities," Rep. Frankel said.

However, supporters of the plan argue the Education Department has failed to improve academic performance nationwide and that giving the power and money back to the states will be better for our students. Republican Party of Palm Beach County Chairman Carl Cascio said the priority should be to get our education system back on track.

"All you have to do is look at the statistics and our reading levels and math levels have been consistently going down despite all these standardized tests that we have and all the regulations that have been passed down from the DOE to all the states. So that's not the answer," Chairman Cascio said.

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Right now, there is very little concrete information about how federal money will be distributed to individual states without the DOE. Including substantial funding for low-income schools, special needs programs and school breakfast and lunch programs.

Richard Struense worked for the DOE for over 7 years as a contract administrator, he said he saw a lot of waste in his department. From overfunding contracts to highly compensated staff holding full-time second jobs in the private sector because there was no accountability at DOE. "Maybe actual time spent on the job for the specific purpose you were hired. They boil down to two or three hours a day. As double dipping. I saw several people that would maintain two jobs, Struense said.

Struense believes giving responsibility for educating kids back to the States will save money and improve every aspect of our schooling. While also eliminating the waste and fraud he saw every day in Washington.

President Trump's executive order has only directed the Department of Education to prepare to close. Doing away with a cabinet-level department requires an act of Congress. We’re told republican leadership on Capitol Hill is working to put that together right now.

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