Successful IT entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has called for abolishing the Department of Education and transferring responsibility for funding public education back to individual states and families.
The remark by Ramaswamy was made on Wednesday during the first 2024 Republican presidential primary debate held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In fiscal year 2023, the Education Department was allotted almost $79 billion. According to Ramaswamy, eliminating local teachers’ unions that stand in the way of school choice and charter school growth is an absolute need.
Ramaswamy said that the U.S. is in the midst of an achievement crisis. He wants to sever the head of the serpent, the Department of Education, and get rid of it.
He plans to distribute the $80 billion to American parents. He said this is our generation’s most critical civil rights issue. He believes the best educational path for a kid is the one chosen by the parent. Local teacher unions must be destroyed if nationally competitive public schools are to be achieved.
Ramaswamy maintains that “privilege” has nothing to do with skin tone. It is crucial to have two caring parents who place a premium on their children’s academic and spiritual growth. Ramaswamy advocated that high school seniors should be required to take a citizenship test similar to the one given to immigrants. He thinks the issue in American education may be traced back to a shortage of dads, which has harmed children’s proficiency in basic academic skills. He argued that the nuclear family is the best form of government ever devised by humans and that education must begin at home. He went on to say that the federal government rewards women financially for living alone rather than having a male companion is contributing to the issue.
Regarding formal education, other candidates had similar sentiments. South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott has been vocal in his opposition to teachers’ unions.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says progressive policies are harming schools throughout the country.
The debate, which took place at the Fiserv Forum, included eight Republican contenders. Trump, the former president, opted instead to give an exclusive interview to Tucker Carlson, which aired X minutes before the discussion began.
