CELEBRATION! TRANSCRIPT: PRESIDENT TRUMP DISMANTLES EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
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Well,
thank
you
very
much.
Thank
you.
Thank
you
very
much,
everyone.
And
I'd
like
to
start
by
saying
that
our
country
is
doing
very
well.
Things
are,
as
you
can
see,
doing
quite
well.
Please,
sit
down.
Before
we
begin,
I
just
want
to
announce
that
I
signed
a
proclamation
a
few
moments
ago
honoring
the
250th
anniversary
of
Patrick
Henry's
famous
speech
to
the
second
Virginia
Convention,
in
which
he
declared
very
well
known,
very
famous
words,
give
me
liberty
or
give
me
death.
Has anyone heard the phrase? I think most of you have. And moments ago, I also signed an executive order to dramatically increase production of critical minerals and rare earths. It's a big thing in this country. And as you know, we're also signing agreements in various locations to unlock rare earths and minerals and lots of other things all over the world, but in particular, Ukraine.
We're doing very well with regard to Ukraine and Russia and one of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine, which they have tremendous value in rare earth, and we appreciate that. And we spoke yesterday with, as you know, President Putin and President Zelenskyy, and we would love to see that come to an end.
And I think we're doing pretty well in that regard. So hopefully, we can save thousands of people a week from dying. That's what it's all about. They're dying so unnecessarily and I believe we'll get it done. We'll see what happens, but I believe we'll get it done. Today, we take a very historic action that was 45 years in the making.
In
a
few
moments,
I
will
sign
an
executive
order
to
begin
eliminating
the
federal
Department
of
Education
once
and
for
all.
And
it
sounds
strange,
doesn't
it,
Department
of
Education?
We're
going
to
eliminate
it
and
everybody
knows
it's
right
and
the
Democrats
know
it's
right,
and
I
hope
they're
going
to
be
voting
for
it
because
ultimately,
it
may
come
before
them,
but
everybody
knows
it's
right
and
we
have
to
get
our
children
educated.
Donald Trump
00:02:30-00:02:56 (25 sec)
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We're
not
doing
well
with
the
world
of
education
in
this
country
and
we
haven't
for
a
long
time.
And
we're
pleased
to
be
joined
today
by
the
woman
who
I
chose
because
she's
an
extraordinary
person,
and
hopefully
she
will
be
our
last
Secretary
of
Education
Linda
McMahon.
Linda,
thank
you.
Thank
you
very
much.......................................................
When President Carter created the federal Education Department in 1979, it was opposed by members of his own cabinet as well as the American Federation of Teachers, the New York Times editorial board and the famed Democrat Senator, Daniel Patrick Moynihan. History has proven them right, absolutely right.
After 45 years, the United States spends more money on education by far than any other country and spends likewise by far more money per pupil than any country. And it's not even close, but yet we rank near the bottom of the list in terms of success. It's an amazing stat. Those are two stats you don't want, the most money spent per pupil and you're at the bottom of the list and that's where we are like it or not.
And
we've
been
there
for
a
long
time.
70
percent
of
eighth
graders
are
not
proficient
in
either
reading
or
in
math,
70
percent.
40
percent
of
fourth
graders
lack
even
basic
reading
skills,
can't
read.
Students
in
our
public
elementary
and
middle
schools
score
worse
in
reading
today
than
when
the
department
opened,
by
a
lot.
In Baltimore, 40 percent of the high schools have zero students who can do basic mathematics, not even the very simplest of mathematics. I said give me your definition of basic, and they're talking about like adding a few numbers together. Despite these breathtaking failures, the department's discretionary budget has exploded by 600 percent in a very short period of time and employs bureaucrats in buildings all over Washington, DC. And as a former real estate person, I will tell you I ride through the streets of Washington and it says Department of Education, Department of Education.
I
said
how
do
you
fill
those
buildings?
It's
crazy
what's
happened
over
the
years.
I'm
pleased
to
report
that
after
offering
these
federal
employees
two
generous
buyout
options
--
and
they
were
very
generous
and
they're
good
people,
but
they
were
very
generous.
My
administration
has
initiated
a
reduction
in
force
and
we're
already
cutting
numbers
that
were
really
surprising
to
a
lot
that
we
were
able
to
do
it
so
successfully.
And we've cut the number of bureaucrats in half, 50 percent have taken office, which is great. Thank you. Under the action I am taking today, a small handful of democrats and others that we have employed for a long time, and there are some Republicans, but not too many, I have to be honest with you. But the department's useful functions such as -- they're in charge of them -- Pell Grants, Title 1 funding, resources for children with disabilities and special needs will be preserved, fully preserved, they're all going to be. So, if you look at the Pell Grants, supposed to be a very good program, Title 1 funding and resources for children with special disabilities and special needs.
They're going to be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them. And that's very important to Linda, I know, and it's very important to all of us. But beyond these core necessities, my administration will take all lawful steps to shut down the department.
Donald Trump
00:08:27-00:08:45 (18 sec)
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We're
going
to
shut
it
down
and
shut
it
down
as
quickly
as
possible.
It's
doing
us
no
good.
We
want
to
return
our
students
to
the
states
where
just
some
of
the
governors
here
are
so
happy
about
this.
They
want
education
to
come
back
to
them,
to
come
back
to
the
states
and
they're
going
to
do
a
phenomenal
job.