Southwest
State education chief ‘on GOP radar’ launches game plan for nixing cabinet department
EXCLUSIVE – As President-elect Donald Trump privately storyboards his cabinet choices, one top state official who is rumored to be on the shortlist for secretary of education is releasing his game plan for shifting the department’s duties to states and parents, Fox News Digital has learned.
In a memo to Oklahoma parents and school administrators, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters will state that the federal agency has “hijacked our education system using taxpayer dollars to impose harmful policies and control what’s taught in our schools.”
Some issues Walters said he is bringing to the fore both in the memo and what he is calling a Trump Education Advisory Team to be announced Monday.
The Department of Education is a relatively new stand-alone cabinet agency created under former President Jimmy Carter, which his successor, Ronald Reagan, called to shutter during his 1982 State of the Union.
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Tenets include ending “social indoctrination” in the classroom and promoting patriotism through curriculum.
In a Friday interview, Walters said the team will organize priorities for schools to be in line with Trump administration education policies, based on what the president-elect has signaled that he will do in that regard.
With the prospect of a shuttered Department of Education, Walters said that he will plan out how to fill any holes left by federal programs and develop legislative recommendations.
At an October rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Trump said he is “going to close the Department of Education and move education back to the states.”
“And we’re going to do it fast. We’ll get somebody great [as secretary].” He namedropped former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y. who had accompanied him, as well as Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Walters also remains “on Republicans’ radar” in that regard, according to Education Week.
He said on Friday that Democrats failed to challenge Trump on education policy likely because his positions already resonated with the American public, alluding to the recent scholastic controversies in Virginia and elsewhere.
“We’re going to be the tip of the spear in instituting President Trump’s agenda. This is to ensure that we are in complete alignment with the most aggressive, comprehensive and conservative education agenda the country has ever seen,” he said.
Walters said he is confident that Trump will follow through and shutter the agency, and that it will result in increased aptitude among students less burdened by red tape, redundancies to state agencies, and social policy edicts.
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Desks in a classroom. (iStock)
“I mean, President Biden came out in the middle of the summer and told us we had to put boys in girl’s bathrooms,” he said.
Whether Trump ultimately chooses him, Walters said he will remain focused on bringing Oklahoma in-line with Trumpian policies, and creating a roadmap for other states.
Improving education, he added, goes far beyond curriculum and will have lasting impacts on the economy, jobs and more.
“Parents wanted to hear that . . . our schools are not here to tell our kids this is an evil, racist country and building this indoctrination,” he said. “We want to support families and school choice.”
The transition plan he crafted also depicts how the education system can continue to run without the influence of teachers’ unions that comes with the present top-down system.
The Department of Education building in Washington, D.C. (Erin Scott/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He said that American Federation of Teachers boss Randi Weingarten put his picture on a screen after Trump’s during a recent union convention, and that his response was Tuesday’s “definitive win” by pro-school-choice candidates.
“It’s just it’s so exciting to see this agenda come to fruition,” he said.
In the current Congress, Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., also authored a bill abolishing the Department of Education. It was referred to and remains in committee.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for information on the cabinet shortlist, as well as to the Department of Education for a response to Walters’ plans. A representative for the latter referred Fox News Digital to the Trump campaign.
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Los Angeles, Ca
Man found guilty of sex trafficking victim along L.A.’s Figueroa Corridor
A former Riverside County man was found guilty of sex trafficking a female victim and forcing her to engage in commercial sex acts along L.A.’s notorious Figueroa Corridor.
Elias Abdul Shabazz, 34, formerly of Perris, was found guilty by a jury following a five-day trial, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Prosecutors said Shabazz had led the victim to believe they were in a romantic relationship before he turned physically and sexually violent. He began demanding that the victim engage in commercial sex acts from May to October of 2021, court documents said.
He carried a handgun with him and, on occasion, was accused of using it to pistol-whip the victim. He also fired the gun at her feet while threatening to kill her, prosecutors said.
At trial, the victim said Shabazz demanded that she meet a daily quota of commercial sex proceeds and that she was terrified of the consequences of not meeting that quota.
She testified that Shabazz compelled her to work in the notorious Figueroa Corridor in South L.A., a dangerous area known for human trafficking and prostitution.
Shabazz had confiscated her identification card, Social Security card and birth certificate. He constantly monitored her cell phone to stop her from communicating with any friends or family.
“He also introduced her to addictive narcotics and controlled every aspect of her life, including when she ate, slept and showered,” prosecutors said.
In May 2025, Shabazz was arrested and has remained in federal custody. His last known address at the time was in Washington, D.C.
On June 26, 2026, Shabazz was found guilty of one count of coercing or enticing interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 6, where he faces 15 years to life in prison.
“Sex trafficking matters rank among the most tragic cases our office prosecutes,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “This defendant will now face many years in a federal prison cell for his sick, disgusting, and disturbing behavior.”
“Elias Shabazz preyed on a vulnerable victim using physical and sexual violence and cruel psychological coercion to compel commercial sex acts for his own profit,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “There is no place for this type of conduct in civilized society. We deeply respect the victim’s courage to face her trafficker in court. The Criminal Division will continue to bring these cases and try them.”
Anyone with information about human trafficking can report tips to the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888
Los Angeles, Ca
Watch Project Angel Food's 'Lead with Love' telethon on KTLA
The star-studded feel-good giveback event of the summer has returned. KTLA 5 is teaming up once again with Project Angel Food for the annual “Lead with Love: Going the Distance” telethon to raise critical funds for medically tailored meals delivered to people living with serious illnesses throughout Los Angeles County. The seventh annual telethon airs […]
Los Angeles, Ca
Woman ambushed, violently attacked by robber in downtown Long Beach
A woman was hospitalized with serious injuries after she was violently attacked by a robber in downtown Long Beach. On June 18, Jennifer Silva, 34, was attending a World Cup watch party at a Hooters restaurant at 90 Aquarium Way. After the game ended, she left the restaurant just before 11 p.m. As she walked […]
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