Governor Bill Lee on Monday said the executive order signed by President Donald Trump to return control over education back to state governments will empower them by dispensing with a Washington, D.C. bureaucracy that has “siphoned off” taxpayer funding through the Department of Education since its formation in 1979.
Lee made the case that Trump’s efforts to return control over schools and dismantle the Department of Education will allow Tennessee to become better stewards of tax dollars during an appearance on Newsmax TV’s “National Report.”
“We all send our hard earned dollars to Washington. That that money comes back to states through programs like the Department of Education federally,” said Lee. “It comes back to Tennessee, but it’s it’s reduced. It’s siphoned off. It’s used to create that bureaucracy that’s in DC that really does nothing for us as a state, and we’ve seen that since 1979, since it started. Nothing has improved.”
Meanwhile, the Tennessee Republican argued the government’s “strings [that] have been attached have been increased,” and the “hurdles” to keep federal funding “have been larger,” all without creating educational outcomes that are “any better for our people and for our children.”
He explained, “I’m a strong advocate of of making sure that we’re more efficiently using tax dollars, and that’s that’s really what this is about.”
Lee also offered praise to Trump for nominating Linda McMahon to become his Secretary of Education, stating that the nation’s top education official and president are strong supporters of school choice.
“One of the things that I’m so grateful to President Trump for, he’s come in, he’s appointed Secretary McMahon, who fully understands that we need to put parents more in charge of their children’s education and the decision making around that,” said Lee, calling Trump “a strong advocate for school choice.”
The governor also noted that Trump offered support for his Education Freedom Plan, the school choice program lawmakers passed earlier this year and appeared to give the president credit for swaying undecided votes in the Tennessee General Assembly.
“In Tennessee, we just passed universal school choice, and President Trump was very supportive of that, very helpful for us in getting that done,” said Lee. He concluded, “When we eliminate the government and empower the parents, we will find success in this country going forward in education.”
Lee was present when Trump signed the executive order, reportedly sitting next to McMahon. In a press conference held afterward, Lee immediately defended Trump’s plans to dismantle the Department of Education.
His support for the president and his agenda comes after his former agency head, Penny Schwinn, who was the Tennessee Education Commissioner earlier in his administration, awaits confirmation hearings to become the next Assistant Secretary of Education, despite significant opposition from pro-Trump Tennesseans.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Bill Lee” by Bill Lee.Â
Any saved funding should never be taken from the taxpayer to start with. The schools get sufficient funding without the federal funding. Of course, left up to the Tennessee Assembly and the local school districts there would NEVER be enough money to waste on failing schools.
Governor Lee sees the folly of the DOE in DC but last time I looked the DOE in Nashville is equally as productive as the DOE in DC. A leader would follow President Trump and close the DOE in Nashville. Return control to the Local People and Parents. Let Competition and Freedom Thrive.