On Thursday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul appeared on CNN’s “AC2360” and showed her clear lack of understanding when it comes to President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Department of Education (DOE). She declared, “Heaven help the Republican states who might take that money and do something that’s not focused on feeding hungry kids, helping kids with disabilities, and everyone else that the Department of Education helps.” Before adding, “Just leave everybody alone. Leave the parents alone, leave the kids alone.”
Hochul said, “Right now we get $6 billion from them in New York state, 2 billion for Pell Grants to give people a pathway to higher education, $2 billion goes to school lunches. Like I said, I was in an elementary school this morning, watching the kids eat their breakfast and lunch later on in the afternoon. There are families who cannot afford to feed their kids a lunch.”
She asked, “So, is he saying he’s going to spread the same amount of money we get now and hand it back to us? I know how I’ll spend it as a Democrat, and I’ll make sure it goes to the right place. Heaven help the Republican states who might take that money and do something that’s not focused on feeding hungry kids, helping kids with disabilities, and everyone else that the Department of Education helps. So, why do this? Why are you unleashing this chaos on the people who put you in office? Just leave everybody alone. Leave the parents alone, leave the kids alone.”
By dismantling the DOE, control is going back to the states and local communities, rather than education being controlled the federal government. This is exactly the kind of change we desperately needed, because education is not a one size fits all kind of deal. Each area has different needs. This will allow states to assign funds to the fix issues they are facing.