At a Hannity town hall in Florida, Secretary Marco Rubio shared his views on education andthe role of families. “It’s neither the government nor the schools’ job to raise children. They’re there to teach,” he said. “Parents raise children. Strong families raise children.” His message resonates with conservative and religious parents who believe schools should focus on academics and allow families to instillvalues in their children.
Rubio said he does not want the federal government to threaten schools. He argued that if the government wants to fund programs such as free school lunches, that is fine, but there should not be strings attached. “If you don’t let boys play in girls’ sports, we will take away your school lunch money,” he said, criticizing federal coercion.
“What we are doing at the federal level is ensuring that we are not bullying states into adopting policies that, at the end of the day, turn these places from schools into indoctrination centers,” Rubio added. “That’s actually the way Marxism works. They use theschools to indoctrinateand tell the kids, ‘Don’t listen to your parents. Listen to us.’ We cannot tolerate that. We won’t allow it, and that would destroy our country.”
Secretary Rubio’s education agenda centers on increasing competition through school choice and vocational training while aggressively removing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies and “woke” ideologies from public institutions. Upon becoming Secretary of State in 2025, he reversed DEI policies within the State Department, replacing them with a focus on strict meritocracy and performance, declaring that “DEI is gone, forever.”
He also supported legislation to prevent socially progressive and divisive flags, including the LGBTQ+ pride flag, from being flown at U.S. embassies, insisting that the American flag alone represents the nation’s values abroad.
While serving in the Senate, Rubio pushed accreditation reform through the Fairness in Higher Education Accrediting Act, which sought to bar accrediting agencies from using DEI or affirmative-action policies as evaluation criteria.
He argued that colleges feel pressured to comply with “woke standards” to avoid financial ruin. He has accused the Biden administration of financing “racist curricula” and “radical gender ideology” in public schools, describing these movements as activism that threatens to turn the United States into a socialist state similar to Cuba or Venezuela.
A major pillar of his platform is expanding Career and Technical Education and apprenticeships so that high school students can graduate with certifications that lead directly to high-paying jobs. In late 2025, his State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs assumed responsibility for several international education programs, including Fulbright-Hays, as part of the reorganization.
Cato Institutescholar Neal McCluskeysupports Rubio’s position and outlines five reasons the Department of Education should be eliminated. He argues the department is unconstitutional because education is not an enumerated federal power and has historically been a state responsibility.
He contends it is ineffective, citing stagnant National Assessment of Educational Progress scores despite increased federal spending and initiatives such as No Child Left Behind and Common Core.
Source: The Gateway Pundit
