President Donald Trump slammed the Department of Education (DOE) as a “con job” during a Wednesday news conference and lamented over the United States significantly falling behind China in worldwide ranking on education. “I’d like it to be closed immediately. Look at the Department of Education, it’s a big con job” Trump said. “They ranked the top countries in the world, we’re ranked number 40. But we’re ranked number one in one department—cost per pupil,” he continued. “So we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, but we’re ranked number 40.” The president proceeded to say that “something’s really wrong” with the U.S’s ranking as China is ranked in the top five. “As big as it is, it’s ranked in the top five, and that’s our…primary competitor,” Trump said. Notably, China has a Ministry of Education that regulates its schooling system, the largest state-run education system in the world, per a 2023 report from the International Trade Administration. Meanwhile, Trump has turned to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to slash spending and staffers across a slew of federal agencies, including the DOE.
