Summary

Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) introduced the Returning Education to Our States Act, aiming to abolish the U.S. Department of Education, a long-time Republican goal aligned with Trump’s agenda.

The bill proposes redistributing the department’s $200 billion budget and responsibilities to other federal agencies and states, such as shifting federal student loans to the Treasury.

Critics warn this could undermine protections for students with disabilities and marginalized groups.

While the bill faces significant political hurdles, it reflects broader GOP efforts to reduce federal influence over education policy.

  • @[email protected]
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    19 minutes ago

    well, duh. it’s the natural progression of the gops war on education theyve been waging since the 60s. turns out it’s way easier to get people to vote for you if you master propaganda and refuse to teach people critical thought.

  • @captainlezbian
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    304 hours ago

    Ok yes I’m concerned about marginalized and disabled students, but I’m mostly concerned about Americans being too damn dumb already

    • @asteriskeverything
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      53 hours ago

      Duh. That’s because :

      “The federal Department of Education has never educated a single student, and it’s long past time to end this bureaucratic department that causes more harm than good,” Rounds said

      /s

    • @LifeInMultipleChoice
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      134 hours ago

      10 mins later: Mississippi is introducing a mandated co-op middle and high school. Where students only need to be in class 2 days a week and get hands on experience in desirable fields such as farming/agriculture. You just have to work 2 days a week to make sure you get your credits to get to the next grade!

      • @SupraMario
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        73 hours ago

        Don’t read up on “no child left behind” then, it’s been a huge reason a ton of kids are basically illiterate. Our dept of education doesn’t need to be abolished, it needs to be properly funded, so more schools can be built and teachers can be paid more with smaller class sizes.

  • @CharlesDarwin
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    516 hours ago

    These people are just such pieces of shit. They truly want to destroy this country and give a decisive lead to the likes of China.

    Letting states like Texas run rampant with teaching total bullshit like creationism without any restraint whatsoever is going to further down this country and we might as well cede all advances to other countries.

  • @kescusay
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    497 hours ago

    Let’s think this through… The US Department of Education’s functions are primarily:

    1. Establishing policies on federal financial aid for education and distributing as well as monitoring those funds.
    2. Collecting data on America’s schools and disseminating research.
    3. Focusing national attention on key educational issues.
    4. Prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education.

    (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Education)

    Regarding #1, blue states don’t receive nearly as much in financial aid for schools as red states. So abolishing the DOE will reduce the tax burden on citizens living in blue states, at the expense of schools in red states.

    Regarding #2, without the DOE compiling this information, it will be up to schools themselves and private research organizations. Badly-performing, severely under-funded schools in red states will, of course, not be able to. Not that they would want to anyway, because without federal assistance, these schools will be in a state of collapse.

    Regarding #3, blue states will just focus attention on key educational issues for themselves, while red states focus on fixing their problems by getting bibles into classrooms.

    Regarding #4, red states will rapidly descend into systematic discrimination again.

    End result: No one will want to hire “graduates” from red states.

    This is a self-own of astonishing proportions. The blue states that don’t heavily depend on the DOE will manage, while the educational infrastructure in the red states completely falls apart. And businesses in need of skilled employees who can, y’know, read will recruit primarily in blue states.

    And the leopards will roam freely through the streets of MAGA-America, feasting on faces in unprecedented numbers.

    • @[email protected]
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      18 minutes ago

      …abolishing the DOE will reduce the tax burden on citizens living in blue states…

      There’s no such thing as a “federal education funding tax” applied to each state to collectively fund education across the whole country.

      The IRS will collect the same federal tax that it always has, but Republicans will funnel the former federal public education money to their pet projects: “crisis pregnancy centers,” the military, more tax cuts for billionaires, vouchers for discriminatory private schools, etc.

      Therefore the Blue states will get even less federal funding in return for the federal taxes that their economies generate, but by no means will their federal tax burden go down.

      • @frunch
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        74 hours ago

        I’ve heard it called “the lesser of the Dakotas”

    • @CharlesDarwin
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      126 hours ago

      And the leopards will roam freely through the streets of MAGA-America, feasting on faces in unprecedented numbers.

      Yeah, but those that were dumbed down by this system will be more numerous and will vote for qons even harder, dragging all of us down with them.

    • @NJSpradlin
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      65 hours ago

      Like the other commenter said, they don’t care about their populous except to remain uneducated and easily controllable, solidifying their conservative control. They’ll bribe the highly educated to come in and lead their industries. Look at any third world country, it’s not their ‘poors’ leading industries, it’s global or foreign experts helping them scrape every drop of wealth from their local communities and environment.

      • @CharlesDarwin
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        206 hours ago

        Exactly. I’ve been saying for years that no Republican should be allowed into office, and I stand by that.

        • @[email protected]
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          6 hours ago

          Absolutely no politician deserves a seat at the very table they are trying to destroy.

          No Republican (with the exception of two – Romney and Cheney) has not condemned J6 and until they do, they absolutely should not get to sit in office.

          Yet…here we are.

          • @CharlesDarwin
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            46 hours ago

            By this, I mean the voters deciding, not necessarily legal measures. Although, as you point out, there are definitely times where legal measures should be getting used, such as J6 and the parallel coup attempt.

  • circuitfarmer
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    277 hours ago

    Easiest way to keep voters dumb. The GOP relies on people voting against their own best interests.

    • @LifeInMultipleChoice
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      34 hours ago

      And we know Trump knows this, as he was recorded years before stating the economy does better under Democrats…

      Also remember his first attempt running for President was in 2000, when he said his running mate was going to be Oprah Winfrey. He held events in California, Florida, and Minnesota before dropping out. I believe he talked about 1 or 2 other presidential runs as well, but never had his ducks in a row. So it was about his 4th time attempting to figure it out in 2016, 5th 2020 and now his 6th time running in 2024.

  • @just_another_person
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    75 hours ago

    Clear the way for more educated states to populate our best universities and create a generational gap in education and idiocy then. Morons.

  • IninewCrow
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    157 hours ago

    Just keep going with that logic and defunding every public service and let them separate every state until they all become 50 small autonomous countries.

    • tiredofsametab
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      55 hours ago

      It’s been a fierce debate and position held by some since before the US was even officially anything.

      The people who want a less federal power also often forget that the US has, until now, been largely blessed by not having to deal with an outside enemy state on their own same soil for prolonged time. Loose control could mean that becomes a real and actual problem.

    • @BrianTheeBiscuiteer
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      227 hours ago

      Red states are about to find out how much they depend on blue state money.

      • Queen HawlSera
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        12 hours ago

        I’ve seen GOP Voters on a local news app talking about how they can’t wait to see what happens when “California and New York stop asking other states and Big Daddy Government for hand outs!”

        And I had to sit down and say “Oh my sweet summer child”

        California is the 5th Largest and Most Powerful Economy in the world lol

    • Thrickles
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      137 hours ago

      Putin would love nothing more than for that to happen.

    • Tiefling IRL
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      97 hours ago

      Honestly, let them. Then all the blue states can form a union while the red states become a balkanized bastion of hatred.

      • @Carnelian
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        96 hours ago

        Man why are we fantasizing about this. What’s the reddest state you can think of, Texas? 42% blue. Florida? 43%. Even in ridiculous places like North Dakota, 1/3 of the people voted blue. What happens to them when blue states form their little utopia?

        • Tiefling IRL
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          4 hours ago

          Is it better to let the entire country suffer then instead? This whole election has been a series of complicated trolley problems

          • @RubberElectrons
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            4 hours ago

            I hate how accurate this kinda feels 😮‍💨

            Maybe we should try nation-states as an idea?

        • @[email protected]
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          13 hours ago

          The problem is that the US is in a fucked up stagnate state, this makes it so the more progressive areas cant improve fast enough and keeps the red states in a place where they are fundamentally incapable of the form required.