Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) defended President Donald Trump’s decision to begin the process of shutting down the Department of Education, arguing that it has not shown tangible results to justify its existence.
Paul made the remarks during a Sunday interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation” with Margaret Brennan when asked about whether low-income schools would continue to receive federal subsidies if the Department is closed.
“I think the bigger question is, if we’re sending all this money to Kentucky and all the other states, why are our scores abysmal?” Paul asked. “Why do two-thirds of the kids not read at proficiency? Why do two-thirds of the kids or more not have math proficiency?”
“It’s been an utter failure,” he continued. “I’d leave it back to the states. It has always been a position, a very mainstream Republican position, to have control of the schools by the states, send the money back to the states, or, better yet, never take it from the states.”
He said that states are much better equipped at knowing how to spend money on the education needs in their states than the federal government.
“When I talk to teachers, they chafe at the national mandates on testing, they think are not appropriate for their kids,” he said. “They think they waste too much time teaching to national testing. The teachers would like more autonomy, and I think the teachers deserve more autonomy.”
Paul said that he would rather have “a guarantee that my kids can read and write and do math” than worry about any guarantees from the federal government that it will continue pumping billions of dollars in education funding.
“The number of dollars has gone up exponentially and our scores have gone the other way,” he said. “So dollars are not proportional to educational success. What I want is success. And I have talked a lot about this. I think there are innovations we can do where there’s more learning via some of the best teachers and we pay them more. I would like to have an NBA or NFL of teachers, the most extraordinary teachers, teach the entire country, if not the entire world.”
WATCH:
After President Trump’s cuts to the U.S. Education Department, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) says he’d like to see “an NBA or NFL of teachers,” with “the most extraordinary teachers” reaching “the entire country” or “the entire world” virtually.
“What we need to do is have the best… pic.twitter.com/bgreJj8NS6
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) March 23, 2025
