'Abysmal failure': Critic says 'it's time to end' Department of Education

Calls are growing to fully eliminate the federal Department of Education, which critics say has wasted billions, pushed political agendas into the classrooms and failed America's students for decades.

The Trump administration argues it's past time to return control to states, local communities and parents.

Erika Donalds, who is the chair of education opportunity at the America First Policy Institute and founder and chairman of OptimaEd, said while the Department of Education was created to increase academic performance, that hasn’t happened in decades.

"Only one in three of our students are proficient in reading and math,” Donalds said during an interview with The National News Desk’s Jan Jeffcoat on Tuesday. “It was supposed to increase equality in education across the country and we’re seeing bigger achievement gaps and bigger disparities."

When it comes to student loans front, she said it has fueled the largest college cost inflation and saddled young adults with massive debt.

"With a trillion dollars in spending over the last forty years, it has been an abysmal failure and it's time to end it," Donalds said.

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