Prescient: Democrats Look to Stop Education Dept. Dismantling

Democrats are favored to retake control of the House of Representatives in Tuesday’s midterm elections. They could even flip the Senate. If those predictions hold up, members focused on education say they won’t waste time in trying to stop, or at least slow down, the dismantling of the Department of Education.

“We need to subpoena the secretary and other administration officials. We need to call for reports to fully understand the damage done,” Oregon Rep. Suzanne Bonamici. Representing a “solid” blue district that includes parts of Portland and stretches to the coast, she’s expected to win an eighth term and even plans to challenge Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia for chairmanship of the education committee.

Her Transforming Education for the Future Act would increase federal funding for K-12 schools and repeal President Donald Trump’s signature education achievement: the new Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, what she and many fellow Democrats call the “federal school voucher program.”

That’s a taste of what might be waiting for Education Secretary Linda McMahon come January. Democrats have already held their own “spotlight” hearings to emphasize the ways they think the administration has betrayed public schools. But if they take control of the House, Rick Hess, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, predicts “oversight with a vengeance.”