Rep. Thomas Massie Reintroduces ONE PAGE Bill To Terminate The Federal Dept. of Education

You just have to love Rep. Thomas Massie.

There is no one in Congress I trust more than Massie, although admittedly that is a very low bar.

Proving once again that he’s one of the good guys, Massie just reintroduced HR 899, a one-page and even one-sentence Bill that would terminate the Federal Department of Education and return power back to teachers and parents:

I just reintroduced H.R. 899, a one sentence bill to TERMINATE the federal department of education and return power back to teachers and parents.

This is it, the entire bill: pic.twitter.com/2dLYVE9Iwn

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 31, 2025

Here’s a closer look at the Bill:

Yes!

This is the way!

Simple one-page, one-topic Bills.

Get the Federal Government OUT of education!

Brilliant!

Now to the question of why do this?

Simple: because the Dept. of Education has been an abject failure!

“I’m from the Government and I’m here to help.”

The United States has tanked in K-12 Education ever since the introduction of the Dept. of Education.  Everything the Government touches turns to sh*t.

U.S. Education Rankings in International Comparisons

1979: Establishment of the U.S. Department of Education

• The U.S. Department of Education was established under President Jimmy Carter.
• There wasn’t a specific international ranking for this year, as systematic global comparisons of education were not yet in place.
• Standardized international assessments, like PISA, were introduced later to track educational performance globally.

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PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment)

• 2000: First PISA assessment conducted.
  • Reading: U.S. ranked 15th among 27 OECD countries.
  • Math: U.S. ranked 19th (below average).
  • Science: U.S. ranked 14th.
• 2003: U.S. maintained similar middle-tier rankings.
• 2006: Science performance improved slightly, but math scores remained below many OECD countries.
• 2009, 2012, 2015: Scores remained relatively consistent with minor fluctuations, but the U.S. did not reach top global rankings.
• 2018:
  • Reading: U.S. ranked 8th.
  • Math: U.S. ranked 30th.
  • Science: U.S. ranked 11th.
• 2022:
  • Math: 25 countries outperformed the U.S.
  • Science: 9 countries outperformed the U.S.
  • Reading: Only 5 countries had higher scores than the U.S.
  • Note: PISA assessments have been delayed due to global events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

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TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study)

• Conducted in various years (e.g., 2015, 2019).
• U.S. students generally performed better in TIMSS compared to PISA.
• 2019 Results:
  • Fourth and eighth graders in the U.S. scored higher than most participating countries in both math and science.

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Other Assessments & Rankings

• U.S. News & World Report (2020): Ranked the U.S. as #1 in education based on perceptions rather than strictly academic performance.
• Business Insider (2018): Ranked U.S. students 38th in global education.
• Different organizations use varied metrics, leading to diverse conclusions.

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General Trends & Observations

• The U.S. is known for having some of the best universities globally.
• However, its K-12 education system ranks middle to lower-middle compared internationally, particularly in math and science.
• Concerns about U.S. education rankings have been widely discussed since the late 20th century.