The death knell is sounding for the Department of Education—and progressives aren’t happy.

If predictions hold true, the Department of Education may be in its final days. Indeed, sources suggest President Donald Trump will soon release an executive order ultimately intended to eliminate the department in its entirety—or at the very least significantly downsize it.

For many on the left, this is unconscionable. We need the Department of Education, they say, to make sure states “provide a decent education.” In their minds, the department plays a critical role in “leveling the playing field for disadvantaged students” and improving educational outcomes.

But such claims fail to pass muster. Protections for civil rights and for students with disabilities predate the agency—meaning they’ll remain in place after it’s gone.

And all told, the Department of Education’s legacy is one of bureaucratic waste and federal overreach, not of educational improvement.

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Today, public school revenue exceeds $18,000 per student per year—up from $14,700 in 2013. Expenditures per pupil exceed $15,000 a year.

Overall, federal spending per pupil (adjusted for inflation) has more than doubled since the Education Department’s establishment in 1979. Yet over the same period, high school students’ scores on math and reading haven’t budged.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Long-Term Trend Assessment, the largest national assessment of educational outcomes, shows almost no change in high school seniors’ outcomes since the 1970s.

Clearly, whatever the Department of Education has been doing with its money hasn’t worked for students. Quite the opposite: ever-increasing federal spending on education has supported an ongoing staff surge, with school districts hiring armies of non-teaching administrative staff.

Since the 1950s, the number of school personnel per student has skyrocketed by a staggering 381 percent. The number of non-teaching staff has increased by a staggering 709%. As of 2010, teachers comprised only 50% of total school staff, down from 70.2% in 1950.

The origins of the staffing surge predate the department—but the department certainly hasn’t done anything to remedy the situation. Instead, the massive administrative bloat is largely the result of state and local school leaders being forced into compliance with federal mandates.

In 1998, a congressional committee’s report documented how federal programs and spending had created a “cottage industry in selling information on program descriptions, application deadlines and filing instructions for each of the myriad federal education programs.”

According to the report, the Department of Education’s paperwork required millions of man-hours per year to complete. And to add insult to injury, as little as 65 cents on the dollar ultimately made it back to the classroom.

Put this all together and the Department of Education’s utter failure makes absolute sense.

But the failures don’t end there. Since the department’s creation, the cost of attending college has skyrocketed. Across the country, real tuition and fees for in-state students attending four-year universities have nearly tripled since 1990. At the same time, federal subsidies have increased dramatically, with spending on student loans rising 328 percent over the last 30 years (from $20.4 billion in 1990 to $87.5 billion by 2020).

And while prices have gone up, student outcomes have not.

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As of 2020, just 60% of bachelor’s students completed their four-year degree in six years. Of students that successfully graduate, one-third are underemployed, working in jobs that do not require a bachelor’s degree.

Even when graduates land a job in their field of study, employers frequently report that those graduates were ill-prepared for the workforce. One study found that while 62% of students felt they were competent in oral and written communication, just 28% of employers agreed.

All told, the Department of Education has failed to achieve any of the purposes for which it was created. It’s increased costs across the board and done nothing to improve education outcomes. If it were a business, it would have gone under a long time ago—and it’s time for us to put an end to it once and for all.

States are already leading the field on education choice. Trump and Congress can go a step further and restore decision making to the states completely. Student loans should be returned to the private sector.

This will restore control over education where it belongs: to states, local communities, and families. Ultimately, the best way to provide education accountability is by empowering families to choose the learning options that fit them and their values.

That type of accountability—horizontal accountability to families—is what will ultimately improve American education.