SAGINAW, Mich. (WWJ) -- During a campaign stop in Michigan Thursday, former President Donald Trump pledged to essentially eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, handing control over public schools to the states.
"By the way, we're moving the Department of Education, we're moving. Your state is gonna control your children's education. We're moving it out of Washington... Immediately," Trump said, to cheers from his supporters.
Speaking to a crowd at Ryder Center on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University, Trump said he'd wanted to do this during his first term in office, but "the China virus" (COVID-19 pandemic) popped up and got in the way.
Trump said the U.S. is "at the bottom of the pack" among developed nations when it comes to education.
"But I'll tell you where we're number one: cost per pupil," he said. "We're number one by so much, it's not even close. So, we spend more per pupil and yet we're ranked at the bottom of the list."
Trump's solution?
"We're gonna let the great state of Michigan run your education," Trump said. "We're gonna let Iowa run its education. We're gonna let Idaho run their education. We're gonna let Florida run their...," he trailed off, to cheers from the crowd.
While he did not detail exactly why or how, Trump predicted that handing over control of schools to the states will result in students in many states — "35 or close to 40" of them — do much better, competing with world-leaders in education such as Norway, Denmark and other countries "who do very well."
"California will have a problem," Trump opined. "We'll help 'em out a little bit, but they're gonna have to run their own education."
"I think we're gonna soar," Trump said. "And, you know, you can do it for about half the cost, too."
The U.S. Department of Education was established in 1979, under President Jimmy Carter, to coordinate and oversee the nation's education system.
Among other things, the department — with a workforce of over 4,000 employees — creates policy for education, develops and enforces federal education laws, provides funding for schools, administers federal assistance programs, administers federal student aid programs, collects data on US education, and works to ensure that all students have access to education.
Trump said he believes there are far too many people working in education in the federal government, and he could get the job done with two people: one person in charge, and a second to "do stenography."
"I need two people, because I just want to make sure they teach English; that they teach reading, writing and arithmetic... And we're gonna do that very fast, and it's gonna be great. But to that, you have to vote for Trump, and you have to do it fast," he said.
In a wide-ranging speech, Trump also spoke about energy policy, promising to cut energy and electricity costs for consumers — including "your home, your car, your air conditioning, all of it" — by half, within his first 12 months in office. He also said he'll double the nation's electricity capacity by "building new plants."
Trump said this will be accomplished with the help of AI, Artificial Intelligence, which he said is going to be "really the hot thing."
"Good or bad? Who the hell knows. I think it's got some drawbacks, if you wanna know the truth," Trump added. "There's some big drawbacks to it, but that's gonna be the hot thing."