00:00Absolutely right.
00:01After 45 years, the United States spends more money on education by far than any other country
00:08and spends, likewise, by far, more money per pupil than any country, and it's not even
00:14close.
00:15But yet, we rank near the bottom of the list in terms of success.
00:20It's an amazing stat.
00:23Those are two stats you don't want.
00:24The most money spent per pupil, and you're at the bottom of the list.
00:27And that's where we are, like it or not.
00:29And we've been there for a long time.
00:32Seventy percent of eighth graders are not proficient in either reading or in math.
00:38Seventy percent.
00:39Forty percent of fourth graders lack even basic reading skills, can't read.
00:44Students in our public elementary and middle schools score worse in reading today than
00:49when the department opened by a lot.
00:54In Baltimore, 40 percent of the high schools have zero students who can do basic mathematics.
01:00Not even the very simplest of mathematics.
01:03I said, give me your definition of basic, and they're talking about, like, adding a
01:07few numbers together.
01:10Despite these breathtaking failures, the department's discretionary budget has exploded by 600 percent
01:17in a very short period of time, and it employs bureaucrats in buildings all over Washington,
01:22D.C.
01:24As a former real estate person, I will tell you, I ride through the streets of Washington
01:28and it says Department of Education, Department of Education.
01:32I said, how do you fill those buildings?
01:34It's crazy what's happened over the years.
01:37I'm pleased to report that after offering these federal employees two generous buyout
01:43options — and they were very generous, and they're good people, but they were very generous
01:49My administration has initiated a reduction in force, and we're already cutting numbers
01:55that were really surprising to a lot that we were able to do it so successfully.
02:00And we've cut the number of bureaucrats in half.
02:03Fifty percent have taken office, which is great.
02:12Under the action I am taking today, a small handful of Democrats and others that we have
02:19employed for a long time — and there are some Republicans, but not too many, I have
02:23to be honest with you — but the department's useful functions, such as — and they're
02:29in charge of them — Pell Grants, Title I funding, resources for children with disabilities
02:35and special needs will be preserved, fully preserved.
02:39They're all going to be.
02:40So if you look at the Pell Grants, it's supposed to be a very good program, Title I funding
02:45and resources for children with special disabilities and special needs.
02:50They're going to be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and
02:56departments that will take very good care of them.
03:00And that's very important to Linda, I know, and it's very important to all of us.
03:04But beyond these core necessities, my administration will take all lawful steps to shut down the
03:10department.
03:11We're going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible.
03:14It's doing us no good.
03:15We want to return our students to the States, where just some of the governors here are
03:20so happy about this.
03:22They want education to come back to them, to come back to the States, and they're going
03:26to do a phenomenal job.
03:28You know, if you look, Denmark, Norway, Sweden — I have to tell you, I give them a lot
03:34of credit.
03:35It's a top 10.
03:37And so we can't now say that bigness is making it impossible to educate, because China is
03:42very big.
03:44But you have countries that do a very good job in education, and I really believe, like
03:48some of the governors here today, from states that run very, very well — including a big
03:54state like Texas — but states that run very well are going to have education that will
04:00be as good as Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and those top — Finland, those top countries
04:05that do so well with education.
04:07I think they'll have — they'll do every bit as well.
04:11And what do you think about that, Governor?
04:12Do you agree?
04:13Huh?
04:14I think so.
04:15Ron, do you agree?
04:16I think so.
04:17Florida?
04:18Iowa?
04:19That's right.
04:20I really believe that.
04:21They'll be as good as any of them.
04:23And then you'll have some laggards, and we'll work with them.
04:28And we can all tell you who the laggards will be right now, probably, but let's not
04:31get into that.
04:33But we'll work with them, and we're going to make them — they'll do a job.
04:37I think they'll do a job.
04:38And they'll go to sections of the state.
04:40For instance, New York, you'll have a Manhattan, and you'll have a Suffolk County, and you'll
04:45have a Nassau County, and you'll have Westchester County.
04:49You'll do four or five or six of them.
04:50You have upstate New York.
04:52And those counties, I think, are going to do very well.
04:54And I think, ultimately, Manhattan should do very well.
04:57But we'll break it down into sections, and I think it'll be really, really good.
05:02And they're going to be, probably, the tougher ones.
05:04But I think they have a chance to do really well.
05:07But we're going to be returning education, very simply, back to the states where it belongs.
05:14And this is a very popular thing to do.
05:17But much more importantly, it's a common-sense thing to do.
05:20And it's going to work.
05:21Absolutely, it's going to work.
05:23And I can tell you, from dealing with the governors and others in the state, they want
05:28it so badly.
05:29They want to take their children back and really teach their children individually.
05:35Probably the cost will be half, and the education will be maybe many, many times better.
05:42So we look forward to this.
05:44I want to just make one little personal statement.
05:47Teachers, to me, are among the most important people in this country.
05:52And we're going to take care of our teachers.
05:54And I don't care if they're in the union or not in the union, that doesn't matter.
05:59But we're going to take care of our teachers.
06:01And I believe the states will take, actually, better care of them than they are taken care
06:08of right now.
06:09They'll work all sorts of systems, and even merit systems.
06:12Those great teachers are going to be maybe a little bit better rewarded, or maybe that's
06:16the way it should be.
06:17But the states are going to make that decision.
06:19But we're going to love and cherish our teachers, along with our children.
06:23And they're going to work with the parents, and they're going to work with everybody else.
06:27And it's going to be an amazing thing to watch.
06:29And it's really going to be something special.
06:31And, Linda, you're presiding over something that's so important.
06:34And you're going to do a fantastic job, just like you have your whole life.
06:38I know your whole life, I've been watching you.
06:40I've been watching you for a long time.
06:42She's had nothing but success.
06:44So it's tremendous to have you.
06:47And hopefully, you won't be there too long.
06:49But we're going to find something else for you, Linda, okay?
06:52So this will conclude what we are talking about with respect to our most cherished group
07:00of people, and that's our children.
07:02We want to have our children well-educated.
07:05We want them to love going to school.
07:07We have examples of it.
07:09Look at those beautiful, bright-eyed faces.
07:12They are so smart.
07:14They're so smart.
07:18And with that, I'm going to come down, and we're going to sign a very important document.
07:22And we're going to be on our way.
07:24People have wanted to do this for many, many years, for many, many decades.
07:28And I don't know, no president ever got around to doing it.
07:31But I'm getting around to doing it.
07:33So thank you very much.
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