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Feb. 21, 2025 - Sean Hannity Show
31:30
Dismantling DoE - February 20th, Hour 3
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Sean, if you want to be a part of the program, the president said that the Department of Education will be shut down, but that does not mean what it really means is there are better, more efficient ways to educate our kids.
It's really that simple.
Now, whether it's vouchers where parents are given money directly and they get to choose what schools they're going to send their kids to, I guarantee you, the schools they're going to want to send their kids to are the schools that teach reading, writing, math, science, and history, and put kids in uniforms and have discipline.
And I'm pretty sure those are the schools most parents would pick, or whether it's vouchers letting state and local officials handle it, although I think there'd be a lot of waste, fraud, and abuse on the state level, especially in big blue states.
We spend more per capita per child on education than any industrialized country.
We have the worst results.
I mean, more than any other country.
And we come in like 37th in reading and 40th in math.
It's pathetic.
It is.
You can't do a worse job.
And I believe a lot of it's rooted in this unholy alliance between the teachers' unions and the Democratic Party.
Here's the president calling for the Department of Education to be shut down.
Oh, I'd like it to be closed immediately.
Look, the Department of Education is a big conjob.
We're ranked, so they rank the top 40 countries in the world.
We're ranked number 40th, but we're ranked number one in one department, costs per pupil.
So we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, but we're ranked number 40.
We've been between 38 and 40.
The last time I looked, it was 38, and then I looked two days ago, it came out the new list.
It came out at number 40.
So we're ranked 40.
Norway, Denmark, Sweden, I hate to say it, China, as big as it is, it's ranked in the top five.
And that's a primary competitor.
We're ranked number 40.
So if we're ranked number 40, that means something's really wrong, right?
Yeah, that means something's very wrong, especially with the amount of money we're spending.
Nicholas Giordano is with us, Campus Reform Higher Education Fellow and Professor of Political Science at Suffolk Community College.
That's out in Long Island, New York.
He's the host of the PAS report podcast.
Erica Donalds is with us, faculty at the Leadership Institute, CEO of Optimum Ed, and the America First Policy Institute, by the way, happens to be married to our friend and a friend of the program, Congressman Byron Donalds.
Welcome both of you.
Erica, we'll start with you.
And, you know, listen to what the president has said.
I mean, to me, the ladder to success in life is education.
And we are failing our kids spectacularly, even though we spend more money than any industrialized country.
There's got to be a better way.
I know there are better ways.
We've talked for decades about vouchers and block grants to the states.
It never happens.
I think now it's going to happen.
It is going to happen.
And I believe Donald Trump is going to be the school choice president.
I was at the White House at his school choice roundtable just a couple of weeks ago where he expressed support for school choice initiatives at the federal level, including the Education Choice for Children Act, which could show up in reconciliation, as you probably know.
But the Department of Education has done nothing to advance academic achievement in this country.
It has wasted untold amounts of money.
We're finding out about a lot of those details now as DEI programs are being exposed and cut, thankfully.
And there are better places for things to go in the federal department, such as the Justice Department handling the Office of Civil Rights.
Hopefully, we move the student loans off to the private sector, not even moving those to Treasury.
But certainly, we want to execute on the President's vision to eliminate the failed Department of Education and expand school choice across our country to give parents the choices that they deserve for what academic environment is going to work best for their children.
You know, it's so important what you're saying, and you're right on every level.
It is amazing that our state of Florida has the number one, is ranked number one in terms of public school education, and it doesn't even have a state income tax.
It is pretty spectacular and a great achievement of Governor DeSantis and Rick Scott before him.
And I'm sure if Byron runs, he would continue that, obviously.
Nicholas, let's get your take.
Well, in your previous home state of New York, we spent about $30,000.
By the way, put the key word on previous.
We spend $30,000 a year to educate a student, and yet we perform twice below the basic proficiency levels on the national assessment.
So you see where it goes.
And by the way, in New York City, it's even more.
It's $36,000 per student.
Correct.
Going up to $39,000 per student in the next fiscal year.
But when you look at it, the Department of Education has spent over a billion dollars on diversity, equity, inclusion over the last couple of years, 200 million of which went to counseling programs for microaggressions, whiteness, white privilege, anti-racism, as student proficiency rates have plummeted.
So the Department of Education has become nothing more than a racket to fund money to left-wing organizations to indoctrinate our children.
And I think that the American people are sick and tired of spending more money than any other country to educate students, and yet we keep on dropping in the proficiency rankings.
And it gets even worse at the higher education level.
At Campus Forum, we've reported how the government is funding colleges to develop tools, $5.5 million going to the University of Wisconsin and a few other colleges to develop tools to silence and censor Americans.
Enough is enough with the wasting of tax dollars.
We need an education system that actually promotes American values, American exceptionalism, teaches students how to read and write.
And getting rid of the Department of Education is just one small piece of fixing the problems that we're seeing.
We need to get rid of the ideologically driven curricula.
We need to institute school choice where people aren't held hostage by their zip code and could choose a succeeding school as opposed to the failing school.
And we need to demand accountability.
And I think that's the most important thing that this administration is seeking to do, where block grants will flow with student achievement.
If a school's not performing, they should not be receiving more money from the taxpayers.
And if they're teaching anti-Americanism within their schools, well, why are we funding that?
Yeah, I mean, you raised such a good point.
And Erica, I'll go back to you.
I mean, the word education, and I went to a seminary in high school, and I had to study Latin, although I was never any good at it.
And I studied theology, and I went to mass every day.
And it actually ended up being a very good thing in my life.
And the root derivative of education from the Latin means to bring forth from within.
To me, that's predicated on an idea that God put talent in every child on this earth.
And you've got to provide the sunlight, the water to bring that talent out of them.
And this is where education has failed.
And I'm not saying that kids shouldn't have to study and memorize, et cetera, et cetera.
I am saying that we're not finding their talents and we're not building those talents and nurturing those talents.
so that they turn that into a way to be their best self later in life.
Is that a fair analysis?
Absolutely.
And our schools, our monopoly of public education has been utilitarian for many years.
It is not bringing out the best passions of a child to help them succeed in life.
It's not teaching them cultural literacy to take forward our republic to the next generation.
So it's not achieving even the aims of education in the truest sense, as you just referred to.
We used to say they were test preparation factories, but they're not even doing that anymore, as we've seen in the NAPE scores, the National Report Card, where half of our students are failing and only a third are actually reading and doing mathematics on grade level.
So it's failed in every sense of the term.
And Nicholas hit the point.
Every parent needs the opportunity to choose a school that is working best for their child.
But more importantly, that will give rise to a free market that's going to bring new innovation, access, and the type of schools that you and I are looking for for our children and grandchildren out into the marketplace when we eliminate the education monopoly that's currently in place.
All right, quick break, right back.
We'll continue more with Nicholas Giordano and Eric Adonal's on the other side as Donald Trump now pledging to eliminate the Department of Education.
And what does that mean for parents?
What does that mean for states?
How soon do you want the Department of Education to be closed?
Oh, I'd like it to be closed immediately.
Look, the Department of Education is a big conjob.
We're ranked, so they rank the top 40 countries in the world.
We're ranked number 40th, but we're ranked number one in one department, cost per pupil.
So we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, but we're ranked number 40.
We've been between 38 and 40.
The last time I looked, it was 38, and then I looked two days ago, it came out the new list.
It came out at number 40.
So we're ranked 40.
Norway, Denmark, Sweden, I hate to say it, China, as big as it is, it's ranked in the top five.
And that's a primary competitor.
We're ranked number 40.
So if we're ranked number 40, that means something's really wrong, right?
All right, our final moments with Nicholas Giordano and Eric O'Donnell's as we discuss the disaster that is the American educational system and President Trump's desire to get rid of the Department of Education and block grant money and vouchers to families in the states and let local municipalities do a better job with it.
A while back, and maybe Nicholas, you'll find this interesting.
A while back, I ran into a young person who had a dream and a desire for a certain profession.
I don't want to give too many clues away here.
I don't want them to know I'm talking about them, to be honest.
And this person, you know, had decent, good, you know, decent grades in high school, went to college four years.
And it was obvious that this dream was never going to come to fruition based on, you know, practice, testing, et cetera, for advancement.
And I literally asked this person, do you know how to study?
And I happen to know somebody that is probably one of the greatest tutors of all time.
And here's a person that had gone through, gotten a full college degree, and it ended up that the person's very, very bright, but the person never learned how to study, you know, 12 years of school, four years of, you know, college, and they still couldn't study for a fundamental exam, you know, when they want to pick up a specific profession.
And it took a little outside help to get them over the hump.
But, I mean, that's a lot of kids today.
I don't think I'm overstating that, am I?
You're not overstating it.
The truth is that our education system has devolved into one that simply cycles students through.
Whether or not they mastered the material is irrelevant.
They just get pushed on and on and on.
And then we created this myth that in order to be successful, everyone has to go to college.
When the truth is, I mean, listen, in my classroom, I have about 50% minority students, yet every student, almost every student fails the citizenship exam when I give it the first day of the semester.
And it really is a sad state of affairs when the students know little about the country that they come from.
You know, Common Core was implemented, coerced to the States by the Department of Education in 2010 based on the idea it's going to improve students' critical thinking skills, that they're going to perform better on exams.
We have the data.
It failed.
It was a miserable failure.
Student proficiency is at the lowest level.
Students don't know as much as they used to, and they are unable to think critically.
So we have to get to the root of the problem because as the world's sole superpower, how long can we remain that way if we have a bunch of students that are graduating, yet they can't read, write, or think?
They can't solve problems.
And that's what it's become.
That's the challenge that we face.
And we need serious people to make serious reforms and fix this problem before it's too late.
You know, I agree with you.
You know, there was an interesting article, Erica, that I think you and Buyer would find interesting about, you know, the next generation of millionaires.
And you know who they were talking about?
Tradespeople.
Can you imagine?
I mean, and I've encouraged young people that don't like school.
They don't like studying.
They don't like regurgitation.
They love working with their hands.
I enjoyed the 10 years I spent in the construction business.
I loved my time in the restaurant business.
That was 20 years of my life doing both.
And it's the best thing I think I ever did.
And then I got behind a radio microphone and the light goes on and it changed my life.
But, you know, that was serendipitous.
That was not by design.
And but long story short, I think that that's got to be a consideration, too.
We don't ever even factor that in anymore.
Well, you got to go to college.
You got to go to college.
And I was as guilty as any parent because I insisted my kids go to college, whether they liked it or not.
Well, and many parents are waking up to this, especially with the level of anti-Semitism that is on college campuses.
Parents are looking for alternatives for their children to succeed in life, whether that means going through trades or being entrepreneurs themselves.
American ingenuity and capitalism is what made us the leader of the free world.
And if we do not unleash that ingenuity and innovation in the education space, we will continue to fall further and further behind.
As Nicholas said, we cannot be the world leader.
We cannot continue to maintain our place in the world if we cannot educate our children.
We have already fallen too far behind, and we have to bring a free market, capitalistic principles into education, give parents power, and eliminate the monopoly and bureaucracy in order to propel us forward.
I appreciate what both of you are doing, and you're raising the level of conversation we can approach like everything else, national defense, peace in the world, energy, border security and safety, law and order.
We have to look at everything anew and fresh with a fresh set of eyes and innovative ideas.
Nicholas Giordano, thank you.
Erica Donalds, we always appreciate you coming back.
Thank you for being with us.
800-941-SHAWN is our number if you want to be a part of the program.
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All right, let's get back to our busy phones.
So many of you have been so patient today.
Doug is in Louisiana.
Doug, thank you for your patience.
Glad you hung in there.
And what's on your mind today?
Thanks, Sean.
Look, I think we've officially moved from Trump derangement syndrome to Musk derangement syndrome.
It's obvious that those on the left have just absolutely lost their mind where Elon Musk is concerned.
And I think that's nowhere more evident than them saying that he is not qualified to be running Doge when I think that he's possibly the singly most qualified individual on the planet to be doing this job.
And I think what he did at Twitter is just proof of that.
You know, he comes in, he buys one of the most successful companies on the face of the earth.
And then within an incredibly short period of time, analyzes the situation, synthesizes that information, and then cuts 80% of the workforce.
And I don't know about you, my tweet still went out after 80% of the workforce was gone.
You know, no loss of productivity, no loss of efficiency.
So the guy obviously is very, very good at what he does, and he's doing it for us, the American people.
I mean, it really is amazing.
And one of the reasons I was so happy to do this interview is because, look, there were obligatory questions that if I didn't ask, the media would go crazy, right?
What do you do if there's a conflict?
I already knew the answer, but I have to ask it.
And it's a fair question, to be honest.
That is a fair question.
I always thought it was a stupid question, but I knew if I didn't ask it, you know, the media, Hannity didn't ask the most important question.
Who's in charge?
I'm like, okay, I'll ask the stupid question, but just to get it out of the way.
And there were a few other, you know, are you going to take Grandma and Grandpa's Social Security away?
And no, the answer is no.
But beyond that, that's not what fascinated me and interested me the most about him.
The fact that he's doing this for free.
And we got into in this interview, which we played part, you know, more of it today, part two today.
And that is his desire to advance humankind.
You know, not many of us wake up in the morning and start thinking about, you know, how we can put plants on Mars and put men and women on Mars.
Most of us don't wake up in the morning figuring out, well, how can we have communications in 100 countries that only have sporadic communication capability?
And that's what Starlink does.
You know, most of us can never be the chief engineer of SpaceX and figure out a way to retrieve the rocket as it's landing on Earth so you can reuse the thing and save a fortune.
You know, nobody really has ever gone as deep into robotics and artificial intelligence and this whole project of Neuralink that he's involved in, which might be able to.
He's hopeful.
He seemed very hopeful, actually, like inspiringly hopeful that that might be able to help the blind to see again or people with spinal cord injuries to walk again.
And then he'll work for free.
And the president said, this is the most important work he'll ever do.
And then he went into this long explanation about how we need to save our country.
And as I'm listening back to this and I'm I remember sitting there kind of like, wow, we're lucky to have people like him in our country that are willing to serve in spite of all of the name calling and cursing and singing and ranting and raving and raging that has gone on.
And hysteria that has been associated with him, you know, trying to get this country's budget under control so we don't rob from our kids and grandkids and stop robbing from the American people.
people.
That's what fascinated me.
Did you find the same thing?
Absolutely.
And, you know, one of the signs of a great leader is to surround yourself with people that are smarter than you are.
And that's exactly what President Trump has done in this case.
He's surrounding himself with the best of the best.
And the fact that the left continues to fight against it, if we cannot agree on getting way rid of waste and fraud and abuse in our federal government, I don't know what we'll ever agree on.
It's maddening to me that they are screaming and moaning about this.
It just shows how far they have gone.
They're completely off the charts.
They really are.
It's unbelievable, actually.
It really is.
Doug, Louisiana, I appreciate your patience.
You made great comments.
Thank you for being out there.
We're grateful to all of you.
Let's go to Paul in Texas.
God bless Texas.
What's up, Paul?
How are you?
Glad you called, sir.
Hey, Sean.
So I'm going to start out by saying you migrated from New York to Florida.
I migrated from Illinois to Texas.
You made a good choice.
Texas was definitely in my eyesight.
There was no doubt about it.
I just like being near the water a little bit more probably than you do.
I got you.
I feel like I have moved to a different country.
It's just spectacular.
By the way, I feel the same way.
And I explained, you know, I'll tell you what I explained.
I've had many friends now come visit me, especially during the winter months.
And they come here and they're like, what the hell am I staying up there for?
What am I doing?
And they see, and I live in a townhouse.
I don't even live in, you know, I used to have this big, sprawling, six and a half acre spread in Long Island, New York.
I don't have that anymore.
I don't want it.
And trust me, I'm so happy.
And I just like waking up.
I like being able to sleep with my windows and doors open.
Don't worry, I'm protecting myself.
And not have to, and feel a cool breeze at night and not be freezing my you-know-what off.
I totally agree.
And when it's 80 degrees in February and blue, sunny skies, and I'm not in Chicago.
Yeah, it's amazing.
It's just amazing.
I wish I could move down here 30 years ago.
And that's the purpose of my phone call today.
I have a campaign strategy I want to share with you and just get your thoughts.
So, my opinion, Republicans have never had a greater opportunity to make inroads into the inner cities.
Why?
For 30 years, I lived in Chicago, and the Democratic policies have failed those citizens, and now you see what's coming out with Doge.
You're finding there's tax dollars wasted, aid going across the globe, and not to our own citizens in our own cities.
This is unacceptable.
So, here's my thought: you have a non-traditional strategy in 24 where the president and JD went on podcasts, and it paid off in earning any votes.
My non-traditional campaign strategy for 25 is right now, the president and JD should be holding rallies in the inner cities of the blue swing stakes.
Start right now and do it in 25, 26, and 27.
There are many votes that can be earned in 28 in these traditionally blue cities that have not been available before.
Here's how I see it: really simple: these blue cities and citizens are now powder cakes, they are primed for change.
And the Democrats, with their bad policies and the subsequent Doge findings, have gifted Republicans the powder to blow up the map.
Here would be my ask: As you are in conversations with the powers to be, don't fly over those blue cities and those blue states anymore.
I left them, but I know what's going on there, and I think there are votes to be found for 2008.
But we got to do the work today in 25, 20.
I don't think it's a bad idea.
However, I would say this: the problem with states like California, New York, and Illinois, and I wouldn't even include New Jersey.
I think New Jersey might have a glimmer of hope, and your strategy could be successful.
I would hope that the same would be for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
And I'd put them on the map.
I'd add them to the, you know what, we got to get to work.
The problem that we face, and I have articles about New York today.
For example, in New York, they are now going to require in newly constructed homes that contractors, you know, put in a sprinkler mandate.
Now, I know because when I had a home in Long Island, I had a sprinkler mandate when I did some construction on the third floor of my home.
And it costs a fortune because it costs as much as 30 grand to put this in a house.
And it's killing the opportunity of people.
It's like a tax on people.
And most homes don't need sprinkler systems.
They just don't.
And it's too costly.
And this is the type of thing that has chased people away.
And the people that might be otherwise more open to new ideas are not going there because they've left.
People like me.
I had one governor, Cuomo.
It's not personal.
If you are one of those conservatives that is, you know, pro-life and pro-sex assault weapon, and he says anti-gay, I'm not anti-gay.
I'm not anti-anybody.
Live your own life.
You're an adult.
I don't care.
You know, you're not a New Yorker, and you have no place in the state of New York.
They have no place in the state of New York because that's not who New Yorkers are.
And we're here to say that the era of Trump and Zeldon and Molinaro, just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong, okay?
Get out of town.
Get out of town.
Because you don't represent our values.
You are not New Yorkers.
All right.
I guess I fit that definition, don't I?
That's just insane, what you just played.
And Sean, I'll give it to you.
Maybe it's not New York, Illinois, or California, but is it Virginia?
Is it Michigan?
Is it Arizona?
Is it Nevada?
We prove we could win Michigan.
We prove we could win Pennsylvania.
We prove we could win Wisconsin.
We prove we can win Nevada.
We proved we could win Arizona and Georgia and North Carolina, but these states are closer than I would like.
I think as this migration, remember, the migration has not stopped.
It's slowed since COVID, but baby boomers are still working.
So you've got at least another 10, 12, 15 years of migration where people are going to retire and they're going to take their money and they're going to sell their homes and they're going to go to states like yours and states like mine and Tennessee and the Carolinas and they're going to get out of Dodge.
And then they're going to go to Nevada and they're going to go to Arizona and they're going to leave.
And they're going to leave for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is to save money.
Right.
So safety, security, and prosperity.
I think that's it's really simple.
That's why I packed up and Barbara Streisand said she was going to Europe and people talked about going to Canada or, you know, that I packed up my family and we left Illinois and moved to Texas because of what was going on in the state of the communist state of Illinois.
So we're thrilled to be here and we think Governor Abbott's doing a great job.
I love Governor Abbott.
I think he's awesome.
I think he's great.
They're doing a great job.
And my Governor DeSantis is great too.
He is.
And, you know, then you have other governors.
I'm going to forget some, but I mean, we do have great Republican governors in the country and real leaders.
And, you know, especially what Governor DeSantis and Governor Abbott did in terms of the greatest political jujitsu move ever when they took illegal immigrants that they denied were actually coming into the country because they lied and said the country was the borders were secure and closed.
And then they said, okay, really?
Well, fine.
You're a sanctuary city.
You're a sanctuary state.
We're going to send your beloved illegals to you.
And they spent money, but they saved a fortune in the end.
And they sent them to New York City and California.
My favorite was Governor DeSantis.
Where did he send them to Matha's Vineyard?
By the way, they were off that island in less than 24 hours.
Amazing.
Liberals are, you know, they're generous with other people's money.
You know, they're all pro-sanctuary city and town and state, except if it's theirs, then they want no part of it.
You raise great points.
I think your long-term strategy is a good one.
And I think we, you know, let's get the country fixed.
They'll have plenty of time for campaigning.
We're going to be back in a year.
We'll be in campaign mode again, believe it or not, for the midterms.
And we're going to need everybody's help again.
Everybody's help.
Anyway, God bless you.
God bless Texas.
800-941-Sean, if you want to be a part of the program, this country was founded on freedom, freedom from a country that forced us to buy overpriced tea and then tried blockading us when we dumped their tea into the ocean.
It didn't work out well.
Well, it's time to throw your overpriced big wireless contract.
By the way, our thoughts and prayers go to the families in Israel that are receiving the bodies of their loved ones that were held hostage and killed and murdered by Hamas.
How sad has that got to be for them?
We'll have more on that tomorrow as well.
We'll talk about the Ukrainian war and why it needs to end with Putin.
Tonight, Hannity, Nine Eastern, we got a great show for you.
All right.
The crazy, insane, radical left Democratic Party.
James Carville's not feeling it.
We'll check in with him tonight.
It's always fun to have James on.
Also, Stephen Miller schooling CNN and the rest of the media again today.
Two epic showdowns that he's had in his many days.
Also, Ted Cruz tonight.
Remember Mark Wayne Mullen, senator from Oklahoma?
And he went head-to-head with the head of the Teamsters.
Both of them together.
This is going to get fun.
That'll be epic.
Nine Eastern, Set UDBR tonight, Hannity on Fox.
We'll see you then back here tomorrow.
Thank you for making this show possible.
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