Lisa McCormick pans Trump’s plan to dismantle Education Department

Lisa McCormick, a progressive anti-establishment Democrat, today issued a scathing response to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s use of poor proficiency statistics to justify President Trump’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

McCormick pointed to data showing that eighth-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) achievement levels consistently improved under Democratic administrations and declined under Republican leadership.

“The Trump administration should note that New Jersey, Vermont, and Connecticut outperform the national public school average achievement because they invest more in students than states that fail to make children a priority,” said McCormick. “It is not surprising that in states dominated by so-called Christian nationalist Republicans, like Kansas, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Oklahoma, you consistently see much lower academic performance. But you have to be brain-dead stupid to think we can improve education by starving school budgets.”

McCormick condemned Trump’s push to abolish the Department of Education as a thinly veiled attempt to enrich the wealthy at the expense of working families.

“Trump’s interest in abolishing the federal Department of Education is intended to rob the poor and middle class so they can give more to the greedy rich oligarchs,” she said. “This may satisfy some crazy extremists and religious fanatics, but the GOP will encounter the wrath of parents and grandparents who love their children. Depriving American kids of a quality education is depraved and irresponsible.”

Recent reports show student academic performance in public schools has reached a 30-year low, with significant declines in standardized test scores across various subjects. These setbacks are attributed to pandemic-related learning disruptions and increased chronic absenteeism.

Despite this, U.S. public education spending continues to fall short of global benchmarks and lags behind economic growth.

McCormick, who earned 159,998 votes in the 2018 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, emphasized that a prosperous and powerful America is built upon the education of its people.

“When we spend money providing free public education, we are investing in the future,” she said. “All Americans should have—without cost at the point of access—early childhood care programs, pre-K, elementary and high school, post-secondary education such as colleges, universities, and trade schools, plus an array of lifelong learning opportunities.”

She also highlighted the critical role of teachers, who face overwhelming challenges, including behavioral issues in classrooms and a national teacher shortage.

“Teachers make every profession possible,” McCormick said. “Since COVID, teachers have gone above and beyond for their students, and while the pandemic is mostly behind us, the negative impacts on our students persist. We must support educators who remain steadfast, addressing both academic and mental health needs to ensure a brighter future.”

McCormick warned that the United States risks losing its position as the richest and most powerful nation on the planet if it fails to invest adequately in education.

U.S. public spending on education falls short of the international benchmark established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

McCormick shared her vision for a “future-ready workforce” that includes universal access to free public education, from early childhood through lifelong learning opportunities.

“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty,” McCormick said, quoting Thomas Jefferson. “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”

McCormick’s call to action comes as high school students’ scores on the ACT college admissions test dropped to their lowest in more than three decades, with only 21% of test-takers meeting benchmarks for success in college-level classes. Scores have been falling for six consecutive years, with the trend accelerating during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A veteran activist involved with organizations like Our Revolution, MoveOn.org, and Moms Demand Action for Gun Safety, McCormick has spent years fighting for a more equitable society.

She proposes funding essential services like universal healthcare, expanded Social Security, and free public education through a fair tax structure that reinstates higher contributions from ultra-wealthy individuals and corporations.

“America had 50 years of prosperity and a growing middle class before Reaganomics,” McCormick explained. “We need to return to principles that reflect the New Deal, Great Society, and Share Our Wealth programs that lifted families up and built a thriving middle class. We are all in this together, and we can restore the American Dream with policies based on these proven frameworks.”

McCormick concluded with a rallying cry for Americans to unite and fight for a better future.

“The path is hard, the system is rigged against us, and our opponents have all the money. But we—the 99 percent—have the numbers. Together, we can create a new path to victory,” she said. “Everyone has agency to make a difference, and young people have the power to build a better world, so we should prepare and inspire them in every way we can.”