this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025
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United States | News & Politics

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Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that instructs the US education secretary, Linda McMahon, to start dismantling the Department of Education, seemingly attempting to circumvent the need to obtain congressional approval to formally close a federal department.

The administration may eventually pursue an effort to get Congress to shut down the agency, Trump said at a signing ceremony at the White House on Thursday, because its budget had more than doubled in size in recent years but national test scores had not improved.

The federal government does not mandate curriculum in schools; that has been the responsibility of state and local governments, which provide 90% of the funding to schools. Nevertheless, at the White House, Trump repeated his campaign promise to “send education back to the states”.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 hours ago

As a teacher and parent with special-needs children, I am absolutely devastated. It's not a surprise from the party of family values, though. You can feel the disdain from conservative parents, and even from some of the students.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 hours ago

They are turning America into what they turned the Middle East into, a nation run by zealous Christian oligarchs, where women have no rights and where the most important thing above even education and justice is your faith.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 hours ago

The "dumb American" stereotype is about to become reality.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I like how people will say "he can't do that" but do nothing to prevent it

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 hours ago

"911, there's a murderer in my house!"

"Oh, no worries, he can't do that. It's illegal. Take care."

[–] [email protected] 4 points 21 hours ago

They're gonna do what they did with BMI, basically make an F a passing grade.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 22 hours ago (3 children)

Every Trump announcement or headline no longer means anything to me about this orange beanbag.

Instead, every headline reflects to me just how stupid the American people are. They are literally being fleeced and sodomized by a group of idiots and they just lie there taking it all.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 21 hours ago (3 children)

Many of us are calling and writing our Senators and Representatives daily and protesting often. There are protests in NYC almost every day.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

Yeah, so many dictators abdicated because they realized their people didn't like them. It really hurt their feelings.

You can't complain a dictator out of power.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 hours ago

I’m not complaining to the dictator. I’m complaining to the people that have the ability to check his power from Congress.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

They'll make protesting illegal before it changes their minds. Hope you're all planning for that.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (2 children)

The Constitution defines power of the President. If Trump disables the Constitution without a 2/3 state ratification, he demotes himself from POTUS to old guy who can’t take a punch.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 hours ago

Laws are only as good as their enforcement mechanisms. And if there are no enforcement mechanisms... well...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

That's not how autocracy works, my friend.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (2 children)

Many of us are calling and writing our Senators

I don't mean to be rude, but this is part of the ignorance. They've given you ample proof that they don't and will never give a shit.

All these people understand is money and violence. Do you have as much money as the people paying for both Dems and Republicans?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 18 hours ago

No, I also don't have as much violence as they do either.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

So it’s ignorant to use the avenues of influence at my disposal? It’s only ignorant if I expect results. It’s more ignorant to expect them to know what their constituents want without informing them.

What do you propose we do instead?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

It absolutely is if you're constantly taking an hour of your day writing or on hold to speak to a guy who has historically never done anything you've asked them to (but blames it on a dude he works with, both of whom get elected on the dime of the same guy).

Take that time to join a worker's organization, or organizing to unionize your workplace, or engaging in mutual aid, or anything that isn't talking to the guy whose job is making sure workers think they have any influence over him instead of the people paying him, who always get whatever bills they want passed. The data is loud and clear.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

I’m currently disabled, but I can get out for a few hours at a time. I use that to protest. Daily messaging takes ~5 minutes. Each call takes 15-20 minutes including wait time. I’m all ears if you have any other suggestions.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I didn't say the protests were a waste of time, writing to congress is. Worker's organizations include a lot of disabled people and they actually do care, unlike democrats. Membership in a third party (that can also use all the help they can get and are actually engaging in mutual aid and not just profiteering) is the only way voting can get you anything from Dems, because as long as you vote for them they have all they want from you.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I’m still in support of replacing deadwood centrist Democrats with progressives. I personally believe we have a better chance in raising the primary and midterm voter turnout up from its current 20%, than to rally a state as big as NY behind a third-party in 18 months.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (1 children)

Midterms are meaningless. What have Dems done to stop this? Absolutely jack shit. What did they do on his first term to mitigate the damage? Take some pictures and write some tweets?

Donald Trump is willing to rule by decree and push his policies by force of arms if necessary. Short term "pragmatism" is exactly what led to this and it'll just dig a deeper hole.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

They don’t have the majority votes to challenge an executive order. They motioned for a 15-day vote against Trump’s emergency order, and the Republican majority redefined the entire congressional calendar as a single day to avoid checking the President’s power. I disagree with the 10 Senators that voted in favor of the CR, but that wouldn’t have actually stopped anything. POTUS determines what essential departments remain open in a government shutdown. DOGE would keep cutting, ICE would keep deporting, and POTUS would keep writing executive orders.

With that being said, I’m not in favor of more of the same. I simply think cleaning out and upgrading the Democratic Party is the better option with FPTP.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 21 hours ago

The ones that affect you directly hit the hardest.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

No, the majority of them don't lie there and take it, they are cheering and shouting "More! More!"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 20 hours ago

This is ridiculous and untrue. There are a lot of crazy shitheads in our country, but they definitely are not the majority.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (2 children)

This sounds like some horrendous Taliban level shit but living in a federal system myself (Australia), k-12 education is primarily a state responsibility here as I believe it is in the US. I wouldn't want to see this happen in my own country but it wouldn't be the same as closing down the department of education in an unfederated country like New Zealand or most European nations where it would be disastrous.

Inconsistencies between states here (Australia) used to negatively impact students moving between states and entering tertiary education. Federal systems can be grossly inmeficient and full of duplication and barriers between states.

Unfortunately not having national standards is probably going to increase economic disadvantage in already disadvantaged red states which will only increase division in the US.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

It's really no different here, i experienced it first hand as a kid moving between states. My gifted classes in a North Carolina elementary school were equivalent to several grade levels lower in Florida. The Dept. of Education is mostly about setting minimum standards, ensuring equal access, making sure children aren't discriminated against, and other regulations.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

K-12 schools here are mostly handled by the states just like yours. But what this will mean is that FASFA will go in the near future, don't believe what the MAGAts will say about it being left alone because it will not last. They will likely try to kill it quickly in a few weeks or a few months if we are lucky. Without FASFA hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of current and future college students will not be able to afford to attend college and university. Private students loans are hyper predatory and not an option for the vast majority of students.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I wasn't aware of FASFA. I just looked at the distribution of funds by state and it looks like this is an overwhelming loss for red states, far worse than I expected.

I know the US is fucking weird politically and culturally but anywhere else I would say if MAGA don't accelerate the transition from populism to authoritarianism they are leaving the door open to an alternative populist movement to give them a real thrashing in their heartland.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 20 hours ago

Our system does not allow for the creation of real competing political parties outside of the 2 party system, and the Democrats are a controlled opposition with right of center politics, so this will never happen here

[–] [email protected] 8 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Well boys see you on the front lines when we get shipped to Canada.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago

They wouldn't dare. If they drafted kids to fight fucking Canada there would be more defections than Canadian casualties.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

As if newer American generations didn't already have enough reasons to refrain from starting families and having children. I'm sure this is going to turn that trend right around.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 22 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago

Bruh, how did you get a photograph of me?