The demand for abolishing the US Department of Education is growing. The sentiment has always lurked in the background, among conservatives and many Republicans who believe, somewhat rightly (more on that later), that the federal government should not have anything to do with education. Remember the 10th Amendment?

When Donald Trump told Elon Musk one of his first acts as president would be to “close the Department of Education, move education back to the states,” he was invoking a GOP promise that goes back to President Ronald Reagan and the department’s founding.