00:00In a few moments, I will sign an executive order to begin eliminating the Federal Department of Education.
00:07Just some of the governors here are so happy about this. They want education to come back.
00:12Before we begin, I just want to announce that I signed a proclamation a few moments ago
00:19honoring the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry's famous speech to the Second Virginia Convention
00:27in which he declared very well-known, very famous words,
00:31give me liberty or give me death.
00:33Has anyone heard the phrase? I think most of you have.
00:36Today we take a very historic action that was 45 years in the making.
00:45In a few moments, I will sign an executive order to begin eliminating the Federal Department of Education
00:52once and for all.
00:58After 45 years, the United States spends more money on education by far than any other country
01:07and spends likewise by far more money per pupil than any country, and it's not even close,
01:14but yet we rank near the bottom of the list in terms of success.
01:19It's an amazing stat. Those are two stats you don't want.
01:23The most money spent per pupil, and you're at the bottom of the list.
01:26And that's where we are, like it or not, and we've been there for a long time.
01:3070% of 8th graders are not proficient in either reading or in math, 70%.
01:3840% of 4th graders lack even basic reading skills, can't read.
01:43Students in our public elementary and middle schools score worse in reading today
01:48than when the department opened by a lot.
01:53In Baltimore, 40% of the high schools have zero students who can do basic mathematics,
01:59not even the very simplest of mathematics.
02:02I said, give me your definition of basic, and they're talking about like adding a few numbers together.
02:08Despite these breathtaking failures, the department's discretionary budget has exploded by 600%
02:16in a very short period of time and employs bureaucrats in buildings all over Washington, D.C.
02:22And as a former real estate person, I will tell you, I ride through the streets of Washington
02:27and it says Department of Education, Department of Education.
02:31I said, how do you fill those buildings? It's crazy what's happened over the years.
02:36But the department's useful functions, such as, and they're in charge of them,
02:42Pell Grants, Title I funding, resources for children with disabilities and special needs
02:47will be preserved, fully preserved. They're all going to be.
02:52So if you look at the Pell Grants, it's supposed to be a very good program,
02:55Title I funding and resources for children with special disabilities and special needs.
03:02They're going to be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments
03:09that will take very good care of them.
03:11And that's very important to Linda, I know, and it's very important to all of us.
03:15But beyond these core necessities, my administration will take all lawful steps to shut down the department.
03:22We're going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible.
03:25It's doing us no good. We want to return our students to the states
03:29where just some of the governors here are so happy about this.
03:33They want education to come back to them, to come back to the states,
03:37and they're going to do a phenomenal job.
03:39We're going to be returning education very simply back to the states where it belongs.
03:45And this is a very popular thing to do, but much more importantly, it's a common sense thing to do.
03:51And it's going to work. Absolutely, it's going to work.
03:54And I can tell you from dealing with the governors and others in the state, they want it so badly.
04:00They want to take their children back and really teach their children individually.
04:06Probably the cost will be half, and the education will be maybe many, many times better.
04:13I want to just make one little personal statement.
04:16Teachers, to me, are among the most important people in this country,
04:20and we're going to take care of our teachers.
04:22And I don't care if they're in the union or not in the union. That doesn't matter.
04:27But we're going to take care of our teachers,
04:29and I believe the states will take actually better care of them than they are taken care of right now.
04:37They'll work all sorts of systems, and even merit systems.
04:40Those great teachers are going to be maybe a little bit better rewarded,
04:44or maybe that's the way it should be, but the states are going to make that decision.
04:47But we're going to love and cherish our teachers along with our children,
04:51and they're going to work with the parents, and they're going to work with everybody else.
04:55And it's going to be an amazing thing to watch, and it's really going to be something special.
05:00Should I do this?
05:02Can I do it?
05:04Yeah, do it.
05:06Thanks.
05:16I was very lucky. I saw another document that turned out to be very good for the country,
05:21and I said, let's use that same pen.
05:23I don't know, is anybody superstitious? Rob, are you superstitious?
05:27Let's use that same pen.
05:42Okay.
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