WASHINGTON, D.C. – This morning, Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.) joined Fox News’ America’s Newsroom to discuss the cuts at the Department of Education:
Click the image above for the full interview
Key Excerpts:
On the cuts at the Department of Education:
“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.”
On reducing federal control over education:
“[L]et 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.”
“A federal bureaucrat who’s in Washington, D.C. can’t 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… [M]ore tax dollars spent at the local level will help that happen in a much better way than anything that happens in Washington.”