Utah Gov. Spencer Cox supports President Donald Trump’s recent cuts to the Department of Education and said he backs the president’s plan to dismantle the federal department entirely.
He announced his position in an opinion piece published Monday in the Washington Examiner, a conservative news outlet based in Washington, D.C.
“If we’re serious about improving education, it’s time for a thoughtful, commonsense discussion about winding down the department altogether,” Cox wrote. “That’s why it’s encouraging to see President Donald Trump and newly confirmed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon reducing the role of the Department of Education and returning power where it belongs: to states and local communities.”
A spokesperson for Cox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The piece was published about two weeks after Cox and other GOP state leaders on Feb. 28 announced a series of public education investments, including a $1,400 raise for all public school teachers.
“We see you. We recognize you,” Cox said to public educators at the time.
That raise announcement came after Cox signed a bill into law on Feb. 14 that bans collective bargaining for teachers and other public workers. Utah labor unions have since launched a referendum to repeal the measure; Cox said Feb. 28 that the raises weren’t meant to squash the then-planned effort.
“This is the right thing to do,” Cox said about the pay increase. “If there is a referendum, the people in the state of Utah will get to decide if that’s a good thing or not.”
Why Cox says he supports dismantling the Education Department
In his opinion piece, Cox maintained that public education should be governed solely by the states, even if the lack of national oversight, as some have argued, may cause some states to fall behind.
“That’s how federalism works,” Cox wrote. “Our founders expected states to try different approaches and learn from one another. Innovation happens when states are free to lead, not when Washington imposes one-size-fits-all solutions.”
He argued that Washington, D.C., has overstepped its role and is “telling states how to educate their children.”
One of the primary roles of the Department of Education is to provide federal funding to public schools, especially through Title programs such as Title I. This program gives extra funding to schools with a high number of economically disadvantaged students.
Many Title I schools rely on that funding, because state contributions often inadequately support high-need students.
Cox in his opinion piece argued that the process to receive Title I funds has become too “burdensome” and that states must jump “through expensive, time-consuming hoops” to apply for the funding.
“That’s not to say the goals behind these programs aren’t worthwhile,” he wrote, “But the idea that Utah — or any state — needs Washington bureaucrats overseeing our schools is both outdated and wrong.”
Sarah Reale, a member of the Utah State Board of Education, called the governor’s remarks “ironic.”
While he and others argue that slashing the department will cut bureaucracy and time-consuming funding requirements, she said Cox has “signed dozens of bills into law that, on a state level, have added layers of bureaucracy, removed local flexibility and governance and created additional red tape for [schools] through various state monitoring requirements.”
In his piece, Cox wrote that cutting the Department of Education’s workforce in half is a “promising start” for fixing the problem that is “federal control” over public education.
“Utah has a long track record of investing in education, including supporting low-income schools,” his piece added. “But we could do it with more flexibility, less bureaucracy, and greater accountability to Utah families — not Washington regulators.”
Reale argued that leaving education purely up to the states means there is “no guarantee” that various student populations will be served equally.
“Our most marginalized and disadvantaged students would suffer without those federal guidelines,” Reale argued.
Utah currently maintains its second-to-last position in the nation for funding students, according to the latest rankings released last year, which were based on financial figures from 2021, the most recently available nationally. Utah at the time allocated roughly $9,095 per student, about a third of New York’s $26,571, which took the top spot.
The state’s largest teachers union, the Utah Education Association, did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment on Cox’s column.
“Dismantling the Department of Education may sound bold,” Cox concluded in his piece. “But it’s also common sense. Washington doesn’t have all the answers. It’s time to trust states and local communities to do what they do best.”
