Just about everyone has a pet issue. Just about everyone who votes in political elections has a bone to pick and wants something done about grinding up that bone. You listen to a popular Conservative radio and TV host, with his inevitable annoying delivery, spout off a laundry list of political actions for the next President. You would settle for just one — one act that would have an inestimable positive impact on the future of this country. Immediately abolish the Federal Department of Education (ED). You can thank President Jimmy Carter for giving ED cabinet level status in 1980. His decision was an unforced, unconstitutional error that set the tone for the rest of his failed term; and no administration, including Reagan’s, in the next 35 years, had the good sense to right the wrong and end the madness. Carter didn’t begin the madness. Public schools took a nose dive in the 60’s when social engineering mandates replaced the attainment of knowledge and skills — when learning took a back seat to centralized government policy, process and political intrigue. Despite massive spending and the herculean efforts of dedicated educators, public education remains in free fall, leaving behind generations of casualties. Everywhere you turn, you see and hear the outcome — in knowledge, language, culture and mores. But you’re not surprised. After all, today’s parents, teachers and administrators are none other than the students of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Many of them were spoon fed mush and today many of them serve up that same mush to the generations that follow. And the beat goes on. Perhaps you need an example of how mush can morph into a governing tyranny. in Portland, Oregon, the city’s School Board unanimously passed a resolution “to remove from classrooms any materials that ‘cast doubt’ on whether climate change is occurring.” No, this is not a gag. According to the Portland Tribune, the resolution “requires that textbooks and other classroom material present climate change as fact, caused by the activity of human beings . . . and also calls for the implementation of ‘curriculum and educational opportunities’ that address climate change and climate justice in all Portland Public Schools.” Not to be outdone by the adults in the room, Gaby Lemieux, a high school student, expressed support in his testimony: “It is unacceptable that we have textbooks in our schools that spread doubt about the human causes and urgency of the crisis. Climate education is not a niche or a specialization; it is the minimum requirement for my generation to be successful in our changing world.” Seig heil mein fuhrer! Bring back the Inquisition, Gaby, to punish Climate Change Heretics. Mush begats mush, Portland style. But you can have no quarrel with Portland. You don’t live there. If the majority of its people prefer to abolish free speech and thought, good luck and pity the minority who can’t afford private schooling. On the other hand, Federal bureaucrats will continue to batter all public schools into submission to foster a Progressive agenda. If elected, Trump should begin America’s renewal by eliminating the ED and placing Education where it belongs — in the hands of the 50 States, in the hands of teachers and parents at the local level. By definition, this one action will benefit every other area of American life — economically, socially, culturally and spiritually. Education is nothing less than America’s incubator. To be trite, the future is now.