Dismantling the Department of Education is a dangerous step backward

The Hill

5 days ago

As a son of the South and a proud representative of New Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, Lafourche, Assumption, and the River Parishes, I know what education means to a child's future. That's because seen what happens when it's denied.
Now, I am watching in real time as our nation walks backward.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court handed President Trump another victory in his mission to shrink and now dismantle the Department of Education. With this decision, nearly 1,400 public servants will be laid off. Vital programs will be gutted. Oversight of special education, civil rights enforcement in schools, after-school programming and college financial aid will be slashed or eliminated — all under the banner of 'returning control to the states.'
Let me say this plainly: We've been here before. And we know what happens when the federal government turns its back on education and civil rights.
During Reconstruction, the Freedmen's Bureau — a federal agency — built schools across the South to educate newly freed Black Americans. That wasn't a gesture of kindness. It was an act of justice. But when Reconstruction ended and federal protections were withdrawn, those schools closed, the progress collapsed, and systemic inequality returned with a bloody vengeance.
That's not just history — it's a warning.
We saw it again under Jim Crow, when separate-but-equal meant separate-and-unequal. And we saw it when four young Black girls had to be escorted by federal marshals just to walk into a schoolhouse. That wasn't a state triumph — it was a federal intervention. It was Washington, not the state capitol, that protected their right to learn.
So, when this administration says it wants to 'return power to the states,' we must ask: Power to do what? Because too often, that phrase has been used as a shield for discrimination, neglect and inequality.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent, warned: 'When the executive publicly announces its intent to break the law, and then executes on that promise, it is the judiciary's duty to check that lawlessness — not expedite it.'
She is correct. And her words echo my own belief that when faced with injustice, it takes action from all of what I call the three C's: Congress, the courts and the community.
Congress must act — to protect education funding, to block reckless dismantling of federal agencies, and to ensure that every child, in every zip code, has equal access to a quality education.
The courts must remain vigilant — to uphold the Constitution and reject political power grabs that undermine our democracy and our rights.
And the community — you and I — must stay engaged, informed and vocal. We must attend school board meetings, call our elected officials, support teachers and students, and hold decision-makers accountable.
I have spent my life in public service — first on the New Orleans City Council, then in the Louisiana Legislature, and now in Congress — because I believe government can be a force for good. But only if we fight to keep it that way.
This decision is not about trimming fat. It is about cutting off lifelines — to students with disabilities, families relying on after-school care and communities still facing educational inequity.
The world is watching. Our children are watching. And history is watching too. Let us rise to meet this moment — not retreat from it.
Our children are not expendable. Our future is not negotiable. And our commitment to justice must never be optional.