While I am often associated with North Korean refugees because of my work these days, many people may not be aware that I once had a different career. A quarter-century ago, as a policy analyst at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., I participated in a fierce national debate: Should the U.S. Department of Education be dismantled? With the 2000 presidential election then on the horizon, Republicans pledged to shut it down, while Democrats fought to preserve it. I wrote an op-ed in the New York Post dissecting the arguments on both sides and made some radio appearances about it.

Now, 25 years later, President Donald Trump is actually shutting down the department. In February, Trump appointed Linda McMahon as secretary of education, tasking her with overseeing the department's closure. The department announced plans to reduce its workforce by about 50 percent, resulting in 1,300 layoffs.

The move has faced significant opposition. Twenty Democrat-led states and the District of Columbia, filed a lawsuit challenging the administration's authority to dismantle the department without congressional approval. As Democrats repeat the same arguments, Trump is moving ahead.

While it is Democrats who are opposed to shutting down the Department of Education, it wasn’t always this way. The Department of Education........

© The Korea Times