Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy of Montana wants to abolish the U.S. Department of Education, claiming it is meant to “indoctrinate and enslave” students across the country, according to The Daily Montanan.
“We have a Department of Education, which I don’t think we need anymore,” Sheehy said at a campaign stop in Billings earlier this year, according to audio clips obtained by the outlet. “It should go away. That’ll save us $30 billion right there.”
“We formed that department so little Black girls could go to school down South and we could have integrated schooling. We don’t need that anymore,” he added.
The Education Department was elevated to a Cabinet-level agency in 1979 by then-President Jimmy Carter, more than 20 years after school segregation was decreed unlawful and integration efforts began. Today, roughly 90% of students in kindergarten through 12th grade attend public school in Montana, totaling about 150,000 children. The agency enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination and ensures equal access to education for every individual.
Conservatives have long pushed to abolish the department in favor of local control of education and block grants to states. Former President Donald Trump also vowed to eliminate the agency if he returns to the White House to “stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth with all sorts of things that you don’t want to have our youth hearing,” referencing accommodations and nondiscrimination protections for transgender students.
Sheehy, a wealthy GOP businessman seeking to oust Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) in November, has used similar language to criticize women who fear the loss of their reproductive rights.
“They’ve been indoctrinated for too long,” Sheehy said at another campaign stop last year. “Abortion is their No. 1 concern. It’s all they want to talk about. They are single-issue voters.”
Montana is one of the biggest targets for Republicans seeking to win back control of the Senate next year. Tester, a three-term incumbent, is facing an uphill battle in a state that has grown redder in recent years and where Trump is overwhelmingly popular. His odds of winning another term hinge on ticket-splitting voters who like Trump but can’t quite stomach Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL with a deeply conservative record on issues including public lands and health care.
Tester slammed his GOP opponent and vowed to protect the public school system on Tuesday.
“Tim Sheehy doesn’t give a damn about our public schools. I’m a proud product of Montana’s public schools and a former public school teacher—and I’ll fight to protect them with all I’ve got,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.