title:  Republican Lawmaker Introduces Bill To Eliminate The Department Of Education Entirely
text: Republicans are apparently hell-bent on destroying public education any way they can. The Senate confirmed Betsy DeVos as secretary of education in a 51-50 vote on Tuesday. And as if that weren t enough, a GOP representative introduced a bill to do away with the Department of Education entirely.Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie introduced the one-page bill, which states that the Department of Education would terminate on Dec. 31, 2018. Now, to be honest, I could understand if this were a panicked, knee-jerk reaction to DeVos  confirmation. Kind of a  smoosh it before it lays eggs  response. It wouldn t make it a good idea, but it would be understandable. Sadly, that doesn t appear to be the case at all.Massie wants to eliminate the agency, which has been in place since 1980, because he just doesn t think the federal government should be in charge of education. Instead, he thinks the issue would best be left to states and local municipalities. (Insert eye roll here.) Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be in charge of our children s intellectual and moral development. States and local communities are best positioned to shape curricula that meet the needs of their students,  Massie said in a statement.Massie isn t alone on this one, as seven other Republicans have also signed onto his bill: House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (Utah) and Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Jody Hice (Ga.), Walter Jones (N.C.) and Ra l Labrador (Idaho).The bill was introduced shortly after Vice President Mike Pence cast his tie-breaking to confirm DeVos. All Democrats voted against her and two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), broke ranks with their party and opposed her confirmation as well. Unfortunately, it was not enough to keep this blithering idiot from being confirmed as education secretary.Unfortunately, it was not enough to keep this blithering idiot from being confirmed as education secretary. And now, Republicans are trying to sabotage public education by abolishing the Department of Education entirely. Lovely.Read more:Featured image via T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images