{"id":2261,"date":"2017-03-19T21:37:48","date_gmt":"2017-03-20T02:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/?p=2261"},"modified":"2017-11-20T20:16:05","modified_gmt":"2017-11-21T01:16:05","slug":"bleak-future-for-public-education-in-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/2017\/03\/19\/bleak-future-for-public-education-in-the-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Bleak Future for Public Education in the United States?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo courtesy of Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Kaitlyn Burns, Staff Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amid highly publicized political and legal controversies that have swept the nation since Donald Trump assumed Presidential office on January 20, 2017,[1]<\/sup><\/a> there is one issue that has only garnered mild media attention until recently: reform of the American public education system.<\/p>\n

Coverage of this issue exploded, however, when Republican Congressmen introduced H.R. 899, a one-line bill in the House of Representatives that would eradicate the United States Department of Education.[2]<\/sup><\/a> Although there has been no movement within the House of Representatives on H.R. 899 since its introduction on February 7, 2017,[3]<\/sup><\/a> the bill serves as a somber presage of the direction of public education in the U.S.<\/p>\n

The Department of Education is charged with the task of ensuring that state and local school systems comply with federal equal opportunity laws and satisfy minimum federal educational requirements. It plays an integral role in ensuring that children across the nation receive adequate and comprehensive education needed to succeed in a world that values scholarship and learning.[4]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Thus, if the Department of Education were terminated, states would be left to their own devices to devise and implement educational standards. This action could have deleterious effects on the nation\u2019s youth, as states would no longer be held accountable for reaching educational goals and striving to improve educational opportunities for students.[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Acknowledging that this proposed bill could have negative consequences on the education of America\u2019s youth for generations to come, the question becomes: Is H.R. 899 constitutional?<\/p>\n

The short answer, as legal scholar Laurence Tribe stated in an interview with Business Insider, <\/em>is, yes, this would bill would pass constitutional muster.[6]<\/sup><\/a> The Department of Education was created in 1980 by the Department of Education Organization Act.[7]<\/sup><\/a> According to the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the power to repeal any prior law by passing a new law that makes the prior law ineffective.[8]<\/sup><\/a> If H.R. 899 were to pass through the House of Representatives and the Senate by a majority vote, and was then signed by Trump, it would constitutionally eliminate the Department of Education by December 31, 2018.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, because this H.R. 899\u2019s goal is very ambitious, and there have been less radical education reform bills introduced in the same Congressional session,[9]<\/sup><\/a> it appears unlikely that H.R. 899 will obtain the votes it needs to get to Trump\u2019s desk. Yet, if the 2016 presidential election tells us anything about American politics, anything is possible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> See, e.g.<\/em>, Jeremy Diamond & Steven Almasy, Trump\u2019s Immigration Ban Sends Shockwaves<\/em>, CNN (Jan. 30, 2017, 11:34 AM), http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/01\/28\/politics\/donald-trump-executive-order-immigration-reaction\/<\/a> (describing the fallout of Trump\u2019s decision to issue executive orders barring citizens of certain countries to enter the United States); Aaron Blake, Stephen Miller\u2019s Authoritarian Declaration: Trump\u2019s National Security Actions \u2018will not be questioned<\/em>,\u2019 Wash post (Feb. 13, 2017), https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/the-fix\/wp\/2017\/02\/13\/stephen-millers-audacious-controversial-declaration-trumps-national-security-actions-will-not-be-questioned\/?utm_term=.941dd2069462<\/a> (explaining the Trump administration\u2019s clash with the media as well as federal judges\u2019 decisions on executive orders issued in January and February of 2017).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> See <\/em>H.R. 899, 115th<\/sup> Cong. (2017).\u00a0 See also <\/em>Brandon Morse, Rep. Thomas Massie Introduces Bill to Eliminate the Department of Education<\/em>, The Blaze (Feb. 7, 2017, 5:55 PM), http:\/\/www.theblaze.com\/news\/2017\/02\/07\/ready-rep-thomas-massie-introduces-bill-to-eliminate-the-department-of-education\/<\/a>; Nate Madden, Hours Before DeVos\u2019 Confirmation, Rep. Massie Dropped Bill to get rid of her Job Forever<\/em>, Conservative Review (Feb. 7, 2017), https:\/\/www.conservativereview.com\/commentary\/2017\/02\/hours-before-devos-confirmation-rep-massie-dropped-a-bill-to-get-rid-of-her-job-forever<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> H.R. 899: To Terminate the Department of Education<\/em>, Congress.gov, https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/115th-congress\/house-bill\/899\/text?r=102<\/a> (last visited Mar. 13, 2017).<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> See Mission<\/em>, Dep\u2019t of Educ., https:\/\/ed.gov\/about\/overview\/mission\/mission.html<\/a> (last visited Mar. 13, 2017).<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Abby Jackson, Here\u2019s How Rand Paul could Legally Dissolve the Department of Education<\/em>, Bus. Insider (Apr. 9, 2015, 10:05 PM), http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/can-rand-paul-legally-eliminate-the-department-of-education-2015-4<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> See generally <\/em>Department of Education Organization Act, 20 U.S.C. \u00a7 3401 et seq. <\/em>(West 2017).<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> U.S. Const. art. I, \u00a7 7.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> See, e.g.<\/em>, H.R. 610, 115th<\/sup> Cong. (2017) (limiting the power of the Department of Education to place conditions on states that receive federal funding for education programs, proposing expansion of state school voucher systems in lieu of supporting the traditional public school system, and eradicating the Department of Agriculture\u2019s nutrition requirements for school breakfasts and lunches).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Kaitlyn Burns, Staff Writer Amid highly publicized political and legal controversies that have swept the nation since Donald Trump assumed Presidential office on January 20, 2017,[1] there is one issue that has only garnered mild media attention until recently: reform of the American public education system. Coverage of [\u2026] <\/p>\n

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Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4],"tags":[80,1580,580,1582,1579,702,1578,1577,1581,1247,1576,117,709,1541,1540],"class_list":["post-2261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-juris-blog","category-posts","tag-congress","tag-constitutional","tag-department-of-education","tag-department-of-education-organization-act","tag-doe","tag-donald-trump","tag-education-reform","tag-h-r-899","tag-laurence-tribe","tag-president-donald-trump","tag-public-education","tag-republicans","tag-trump","tag-u-s","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2261"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2263,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261\/revisions\/2263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}