Wyoming's lone U.S. House representative has co-sponsored a one-sentence bill that would eliminate the federal Department of Education by Dec. 31.

Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, announced Wednesday that she "proudly co-sponsored" House Resolution 899.

Backed entirely by Republican lawmakers and sponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, the bill is just one sentence long and proposes to "terminate" the U.S. Department of Education by the end of this year.

Hageman has touted the bill as an answer to onerous federal micromanagement. Her Wyoming peers in the U.S. Senate, and Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder voiced general support of any measure that cuts federal bureaucracy from education.

However, a school district superintendent in Powell, Wyoming, said one sentence isn't enough to address the massive redirection of federal money the move would involve.

Or This Bill

Curtis said he hadn't investigated the bill deeply, but he pointed to H.R. 938 as a more-structured alternative to Hageman's H.R. 899.

Backed by seven House Republicans, H.R. 938 proposes to terminate the federal department within 30 days of its passage.

If it passed, H.R. 938 would order the U.S. secretary of the treasury to allocate funding to the states to support elementary and secondary education, in proportion to the aggregate amount of federal income taxes paid by the residents of each state.

It is Congress' "sense," says the bill, that the states would distribute those funds to advance school choice and competition between schools, while respecting parents' right to determine "the best education for their children."

H.R. 938 also would shift the federal Pell Grant program and the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program into the secretary of the treasury's purview.

Let's Go Local

Hageman told Cowboy State Daily in a Thursday email that she comes from a family of educators, including her mother, who taught kindergarten through eighth grade in a one-room schoolhouse. The House delegate said she received a well-rounded education and learned the invaluable skills that propelled her to where she is today.

"We know how to educate our children," Hageman said. "They should be taught by members of their community who care deeply about their lifelong success."

Hageman had strong words for the federal Department of Education, saying it "only serves to launder money out of our school districts to return it with strings attached."

Wyoming's "wonderful, caring educators" can address student needs, she added, "without the hand-tying of federal bureaucracy."

Up In The Senate

Meanwhile in the Senate, Wyoming's Republican U.S. Sens. Cynthia Lummis and John Barrasso voiced support for reforming or removing the federal department.

"Wyoming families, not elitists in Washington, understand the needs of our students and should be directing the upbringing, education and care of their children," said Barrasso.

Lummis made a similar statement. She also rebuked the current Department of Education under President Joe Biden as harming Wyoming. She cited Biden's attempt to use the department to wipe away billions of dollars in student debt.

Degenfelder told Cowboy State Daily in a Thursday email that she supports any efforts to reduce federal bureaucracy and return education control back to local communities and parents.

Source of Hageman in the news about Education

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