New Report Card podcast. Rick Hess and I joined Nat Malkus to discuss what’s happening around higher education, the elections, and more in education. Rick and I agree that New York’s gifted program needs some work! (Recorded just before the announcement from ED this week, which I get to below).
“Restructuring” The Department of Education
I don’t have much in common with Donald Trump, but one thing we apparently share is a fondness for watches. We don’t have many of the same ones—his collection reportedly runs to Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin, classic and elite timepieces to be sure. Mine reflects my interests: watches with connections to space exploration or to family members. I treasure my stepfather’s early-gen Seiko from Vietnam more than I ever would a Rolex. I like microbrands that outpunch their weight in quality; Trump likes name brands that signal wealth. He has a gold Rolex day date, of course.
Where our tastes really diverge, though, is with the Trump watch. They are supposed to look impressive. I think the line is underwhelming, overpriced, and well, tacky. You can get a better watch for half the price—and good watches for less. I’d recommend this Seiko GMT instead, for example, if you want something better in the ballpark of that price point. But the Trump watch is like a lot of Trump things: a feat of marketing without much behind it. “It will have your friends asking, where did you get that?” the website boasts. Spoiler alert: watches are like college sweatshirts—only the fringes notice or care enough to even ask.
Anyway, all that brings us to yesterday’s announcement about the Department of Education and the administration’s gambit to delegate its responsibilities to other agencies. It’s all show with less behind it than you might think. That’s not to say it’s show without consequence, there are always consequences. If you buy that stupid watch, you’re still out $500. But this restructuring is farce, theater, and a missed opportunity. The event announcing it was rushed because there isn’t much to announce; key administration officials weren’t even in D.C. or around for it. There was little of the rollout you’d expect for something of real magnitude. For a reason.
Why? As Chad Aldeman points out, all that’s really happening is tasks being reassigned to different agencies. In some cases programs no one other than professionals had heard of 48 hours ago though to listen to some folks the republic now hinges on it. Some of this might not even be legal. Agencies have some power to delegate, but this might go too far in some cases—especially regarding specific statutory functions. The lawyers (I’m not one) and the courts will sort that out.
But it’s another in a long line of administration moves underscoring that you can’t really do this without Congress’s consent if you mean to really do it.
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And look, you have to be deep into Bluesky territory to care whether the Department of Education or State handles international education and foreign language partnerships. Moving Title I to Labor, however, why?
That’s why this is a missed opportunity because, even in this hyper-partisan time, there’s probably some appetite for a proper government restructuring around education and training given its importance to American competitiveness. Sending some postsecondary and career training functions to the Department of Labor makes sense. There’s even an argument for merging the two agencies. Sending student aid to Treasury is another idea with merit. Conversely, moving IDEA to Health and Human Services is a lousy idea, in my view, but moving Head Start from HHS to Education might help with aspects of that program. Does anyone think we’re doing a good job or doing right by kids on Indian education? None of this would be any kind of miracle cure. Education, like all the other agencies, runs some programs well and others poorly.
Still, sending a proper bill to Congress—or even a proposal or principles to jump-start the legislative process (which his party controls) would be a way, though, to start a real conversation about reform here. It might go nowhere. It might just make lobbyists some money. Or it might lead to a reform bill. Only one way to find out: try. This isn’t trying. This is a stunt that’ll just get unwound down the road. It doesn’t remove red tape as proponents claim – it creates red tape. It’s also inefficient and doesn’t streamline—this adds complexity and layers. This time and effort could be spent on real reform. It’s performance art.
On the politics, my hunch, supported by some public opinion research, is average people actually care less than you think as long as the funding flows. And if you think people are going to get spun up about things like which agency handles foreign medical accreditation then I don’t know what to tell you. Schools losing money will get their attention; bureaucratic realignments—yawn. And the fuse on this stuff is slow as we’ve discussed in the past. Nonetheless, in political speech we’ll hear about it non-stop, in many cases from people who can’t otherwise be bothered to be serious about educational achievement in this country. The Trump folks, meanwhile, will say they checked this box and are returning education to the states (reader, they’re actually moving it across the National Mall).
But anything beyond appearances might not be Trump’s aim anyway. His maximalist style of politics means he can’t afford to lose, compromise, or appear weak. That’s why the Epstein vote was such a big deal for him. I’ll be surprised if there are revelatory things about Trump in the Epstein documents (though the blast radius could be substantial for others, including some in our sector). My hunch is we’d have heard specifics already if there were something really damning on him in there. Pee tape all over again (though perhaps there is some seemingly minor thing that could trigger a prenup issue, who knows).
In any event, the issue for him is that by crossing him, Republican members of Congress like Thomas Massie (KY) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) showed that it can be done—successfully. The specific issue at hand, in this case the Epstein files, matters less than the dynamic of Trump showing he doesn’t lose, ever, and that crossing him is political suicide. That’s why he reversed himself earlier this week on releasing the files—to try to salvage a win. Think of it like a chess game, where a pawn, nominally a minor piece, suddenly comes under intense pressure on a particular square and takes on outsized importance.
The Department of Education’s abolition has that same quality. Trump’s all in on it, so he has to stay all in—no matter how farcical it is and continues to be. It’s also a great distraction. A lever he can pull again and again and get the reaction he wants.
Great use of time and effort…By the way, have you heard? Kids going to good colleges can’t do math.
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