When I talk about “dismantling,” I mean this: remove the top-down layer that’s been weighing on local schools for too long. Strip away the bureaucracy and give real decision-making back to the local level — where it belongs.

This isn’t some radical proposal. It’s actually a return to how our country was designed to work — power flows from the people up, not the other way around. The federal Department of Education was only created in 1979. Before that, states and local communities controlled education. And believe it or not — kids still learned to read.

By eliminating the Department of Education, Wyoming teachers would no longer have to interpret and implement federal rules that often conflict with state and local priorities. They could focus on what matters: creating great lesson plans, investing in students, and building classroom culture.

It’s not just about control. It’s about respect.

Let’s not pretend federal oversight has made things better. Test scores have stagnated. Graduation rates are flat. And teachers are leaving the profession in record numbers. If a private company had this track record, we’d shut it down — not double its budget.

And that’s exactly what we’ve seen for decades: more money, more control, more paperwork, and worse outcomes.

This campaign is about tearing the system down to the studs — and rebuilding it with Wyoming values. That starts in the classroom. It starts with faith, family, freedom, and a future that’s shaped by teachers, not technocrats.

Now, some will say, “But what about funding?” Here’s the truth: most of the money that comes from the federal government is just Wyoming tax dollars being laundered through bureaucracy and sent back with strings attached. If we keep more of our money here, we can fund our schools directly — with more flexibility and less overhead.

Let’s redirect our focus from compliance to competence. From regulation to results. And from federal control to local wisdom.

That’s not going to happen as long as we’re sending education decisions through a maze of federal or state departments.