Marco Rubio in Nevada: We Don’t Need a Department of Education

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore (CC-By-SA 3.0)

Republican presidential candidate U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) during a campaign stop in Nevada said something that should resonate with many of our readers – The U.S. Department of Education is not needed.

AP reports:

Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio says the U.S. doesn’t need a federal Education Department, arguing that its recommendations to state and local governments often turn into mandates tied to money.

The Florida senator made the comments Tuesday during a town hall meeting in Carson City. About 200 people attended the gathering in a community center, part of a tour of northern Nevada.

“What starts out as a suggestion ends up being, ‘If you want money from us, you must to do it this way,’ and you will end up with a version of a national school board,” Rubio said. “We don’t need a national school board.”

….

Rubio said the department administers certain programs that have merit but those could be transferred to other agencies. “I honestly think we don’t need a Department of Education,” he said.

The Democratic National Chair, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (R-FL) quickly left to the U.S. Department of Education’s defense.

As my kids & millions of others around the country head back to school, Marco Rubio is actually saying we don't need a Dept. of Education.

— D Wasserman Schultz (@DWStweets) September 2, 2015

I’d like to know which of these millions of kids the U.S. Department of Education has actually educated.  I’d also like the Congresswoman to provide any data that shows public K-12 education actually improving on the USDE’s watch and if there is any tangible evidence they had anything to do with it.

Congresswoman you must have forgotten that we put a man on the moon years before we had a U.S. Department of Education. We’ll be just fine.