Kimberley Strassel hits the nail on the head in “Trump’s School Choice” (Potomac Watch, March 7). It is time to end the experiment in federal control over education, returning the matter to states and, more important, to families.

As Ms. Strassel explains, the Education Department is a misnomer. It educates no one. Instead, it functions as a bureaucratic middleman that adds cost and complexity—as well as radical political agendas—at every turn, without adding value anywhere. The proof is in the outcomes. The department’s stated purpose is to close the gap between high- and low-performing students. It has spent $1 trillion since 1979, ostensibly in pursuit of that goal, but the results show the gap is wider today than it was three decades ago. Seven out of 10 fourth-graders today aren’t proficient readers. This is what happens with a system that rewards compliance over competence.

Why has anyone abided such failure? As Ms. Strassel rightly notes, the federal department was never functionally intended to serve students. It was created as a political payoff to the school union bosses and thus built to serve the interests of adults.

This underscores why, finally, President Trump and Congress must put parents squarely in the driver’s seat of their children’s education. When they have the power to take kids out of failing schools, real accountability will follow. Mr. Trump has clearly called for expanding education freedom across this country, and Congress must finally heed his call by including the Educational Choice for Children Act in the upcoming budget reconciliation.

The president’s efforts, including eliminating unneeded and duplicative staff, are far from extreme. They are what is necessary to address and correct the significant challenges facing America’s students and teachers. By shuttering the Education Department for good, we can begin to fix education and help children unlock their full potential.

Betsy DeVos

Grand Rapids, Mich.

Mrs. DeVos was U.S. education secretary, 2017-21.