Returning Education Policy And Funding To The States: Jonathan Williams on American Radio Journal
States, communities, and ultimately parents are best positioned to make education decisions, as they are closest to the problems and the needs of America's children.
Last week, President Donald Trump signed a historic Executive Order instructing the Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, to shift the funding of the United States Department of Education to the states—a move that returns crucial local control over education in America. Not in the United States Constitution, or any of its amendments, is the federal government given power to direct American education.
This raises the question: What does the Department of Education, established by Congress in 1979, do if it lacks the constitutional authority to oversee education?
Essentially, the department functions as a clearinghouse that distributes federal funds to schools, districts, and states. The largest chunk of its budget is tied to federal student loans—a sector where private businesses already provide similar services. Over the years, the federal government has expanded its involvement in student loans, often forgiving them during political campaign seasons in an attempt to buy favor with voters. These actions have added billions to the federal debt, but more importantly, present a moral hazard problem.
Americans who have worked hard—even taken second jobs, in many cases, and given up vacations or other key priorities for years to save and pay off their student loans—are now wondering why they played by the rules just to see others given a free ride by Uncle Sam.
Apart from the loans, the Department of Education also distributes grants to schools, but these funds come with costly strings attached. These federal requirements give Washington a level of control over public education that it should not simply have. By requiring states and localities to meet certain criteria in order to receive federal funding, the department imposes a one-size-fits-all approach to education.
This is a departure from the fundamentally local nature of American education, which varies based on the needs of individual communities and, of course, individual families. Washington’s top-down approach undermines local control and places bureaucrats in charge of decisions that should be made by states, teachers, and—most importantly—parents.
The existence of a federal education bureaucracy also leads to inefficiency and waste. The federal government collects tax dollars, sends them through an extensive bureaucracy, and imposes its own set of standards for their disbursement. It would be far more effective if local and state governments simply handled the funds themselves.
In fact, state and local governments already fund the majority of public education. Only 14% of public education spending in the U.S. comes from the federal government, with 43% provided by localities and 44% by states. The federal government’s role in education should be minimal, and by eliminating federal overreach, education spending would be much more impactful. Parents would have a much more direct connection to their children’s education, and local governments would have the flexibility to implement reforms that best suit their communities.
Despite the federal government’s overreach, states have already begun making major strides to improve education through initiatives that prioritize freedom and choice, as we realistically highlighted with the release of our 2025 ALEC Index of Economic Freedom. Fifteen states have adopted universal education freedom programs since 2021. The states that earned A’s in this year’s report are Florida—which actually got an A+—Arizona, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Iowa.
This remarkable breakthrough for education freedom is one of the greatest policy stories that the mainstream media continues to ignore. These education choice programs empower parents by giving them funds to customize the educational options that best meet the needs of their children.
Texas Senator Phil King, who is a leader in the fight to bring education freedom to the Lone Star State this year, emphasizes that this is about recognizing parents’ unalienable right to determine the best educational path for their children. These programs have the potential to reverse the troubling decline in test scores nationally while improving outcomes for students—all by giving parents more choices in their children’s education.
President Trump’s Executive Order aligns with these efforts to return power to the states and dismantle Washington’s top-down control. The order signals the end of the Department of Education’s ability to control education through the manipulation of federal funds. By putting states back in control, the President has created an opportunity for reforms like universal education freedom to continue to thrive.
Ultimately, the Executive Order acknowledges a fundamental truth: Education decisions should not be dictated by Washington, D.C.–based bureaucrats. States, communities, and ultimately parents are best positioned to make education decisions, as they are closest to the problems and the needs of America’s children.