Washington Shutdown and Education
As Washington, D.C. grapples with a shutdown, some commentators in the media are quick to claim that the situation spells disaster. Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, and her union associates argue that without the Department of Education, schools will falter, placing blame on President Trump for the closures. She has suggested that he is effectively “holding the American people hostage.”
However, it seems the real hostage situation involves the teachers’ unions. Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have, in a sense, held students’ access to education in limbo. Moreover, they put pressure on teachers who fail to align with their progressive ideals, and even cast parents aside as obstacles when they express dissent.
Despite the government shutdown, many schools are still functioning. Teachers continue to teach, students are learning, and life goes on as usual. The world hasn’t come to an end.
The shutdown has unveiled something significant: the U.S. Department of Education has been part of a larger deception. For years, unions and their political allies have told Americans that federal oversight is essential for maintaining quality education. They claim that states couldn’t possibly manage funding, accountability, or innovation without guidance from Washington.
Yet, this belief has been proven incorrect. Schools have remained operational during the shutdown because key funding sources like Title I and IDEA operate through established formulas that persist, even when federal workers are not in their offices. In reality, states have always had control over these funds.
This shutdown illustrated what many have already suspected: states have the ability to manage education and, in fact, they already do. Education in the U.S. is mostly funded and run at the state and local level, and the federal government often introduces more bureaucracy than actual substance.
To put it simply, the U.S. Department of Education shouldn’t even exist. It was formed in 1979 as a political move—a compromise struck between Jimmy Carter and the teachers’ unions aimed at consolidating their power. That arrangement is evident in the ongoing dynamic.
Teachers’ unions are just one piece of this puzzle. They were a driving force behind the creation of the Department of Education, benefitting from its funding, influence, and protection. In turn, they defend its survival, creating a mutually beneficial relationship. Their narrative insists that the nation would collapse without them, which serves their interests by keeping their control intact.
For years, armed with the support of the Department of Education, teachers’ unions have infused educational standards, training programs, and certification pipelines with a specific ideology that often silences parental input.
Now, as the Department of Education faces operational difficulties, there’s a palpable sense of panic among the unions. Headlines proclaiming that “without the Department of Education, chaos will reign” are misleading. The truth is, the real chaos has been the falsehoods they’ve perpetuated for decades.
In reality, students are still learning, teachers are actively engaged, and parents are reclaiming their role in education. This system can function effectively without federal intervention.
This shutdown serves as an important wake-up call. It hasn’t spelled doom for American education; rather, it has shed light on those who have been undermining it all along.
While unions may lament the circumstances, the rest of us will continue with our work, focused and undeterred.
