Reagan Calls for Abolishing Education Department in State of the Union

President Ronald Reagan used his 1982 State of the Union address to call for dismantling the Department of Education, framing it as federal overreach into a state responsibility. Education Secretary Terrel Bell opposed the plan privately, warning that eliminating the department would disrupt federal education funding. Democrats controlling the House refused to move abolishment legislation, and Senate Republicans showed little enthusiasm. Reagan abandoned the effort by 1984 without a single floor vote.