The Push to Abolish Education Department Goes Back DecadesThe Push to Abolish Education Department Goes Back Decades
The Department of Education in Washington on July 16, 2019. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times
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The Push to Abolish Education Department Goes Back Decades

Seven presidents and trillions of dollars after the agency’s inception, the Trump administration has cut it in half and seeks to eliminate it.
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By Aaron Gifford
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In 1866, Ohio congressman and future president James Garfield championed the creation of a federal Department of Education to address high illiteracy levels among former slaves and an influx of European immigrants.

As part of the post-Civil War Reconstruction effort, the former Confederate states were required to guarantee education for all in their rewritten constitutions. The new federal agency would monitor and enforce compliance, according to a brief history of the Department of Education published by The Conference Board think tank.
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