WASHINGTON, (WOWO) — Indiana Republican Senator Jim Banks said Wednesday that he wants to abolish the U.S. Department of Education and send the money back to the states.
It was announced on Tuesday that half the staff at the U.S. Department of Education was being cut. Banks spoke to Fox News Wednesday morning.
“I guess you could say that President Trump and Secretary Linda McMahon are dropping the people’s elbow on the bureaucracy at the federal Department of Education and Dana, it’s a long time coming because consider that the average bureaucrat at the federal Department of Education makes over twice as much money as teachers in Indiana do. And when you talk about the $100 billion budget for the entire department, think about the schools that you could build, the teachers you can hire. That’s what President Trump is doing. He’s sending these dollars back to the states so that they can spend them in a much wiser and more effective way that the federal government can. This has been a long time coming. You’re right, Congress has to cement it. We should eliminate and abolish the department and make these cuts permanent and let states keep that money instead of sending it to Washington,” said Banks.
Banks went on to say that he’s proud of the progress Indiana is making on the education front.
“Let me tell you where reading scores are going up: in states like Indiana where we have one of the best school choice programs in the whole country. We empower parents. We let teachers teach. We get the government out of the way of these schools. And that’s why abolishing the federal Department of Education is so good for our public schools because it empowers them to do their jobs better without the federal government getting in the way,” said Banks.
Banks said a bureaucrat in DC cannot protect schools and kids in Indiana.
“That has to be done at the local level. And that’s why getting the federal government out of the way and letting schools take care of these issues,” said Banks.
The layoffs would leave the department with 2,183 workers, down from 4,133 when Trump took office in January.
