Scrap the department of education!

Mona Charen:

It is not kooky to favor the elimination of the Department of Education. That this proposal is routinely labeled "extremist" is a reminder of the one-way ratchet that operates in government. Enshrine something in a federal agency and it becomes sacrosanct. Democrats cheerlead for federal programs because they are the party of government, and Republicans quietly go along because they're afraid.

But if Republicans know how to argue for smaller government -- as Gov. Chris Christie is demonstrating in New Jersey -- they need not be intimidated. There are hundreds of federal programs that could be eliminated tomorrow with only the happiest consequences for the nation. And yes, the whole Department of Education could be scrapped. It vacuums up money and produces ... what exactly

I've long been in favor of abolishing the department of education, because I don't believe that there's any consititutional authority for the federal government to be involved in education, and I don't think they contribute anything beyond bureaucracy and regulation, neither of which provides much "education," at least not in the way we want to think about education. But I quoted this because I love the bolded part. It's a great statement of one of the big problems facing us as a nation right now.

Click over, read it all - it's an excellent piece.