20 March—The vernal equinox occurred—spring arrived—at 5:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time today. That means the sun’s rays were directly over the equator, resulting in equal hours (give or take) of daylight and darkness all over the world. The autumnal equinox will occur—fall will arrive—this year on 22 September at 2:19 p.m. Eastern Daylight Saving Time. At that time, the sun’s rays will again be directly over the equator, resulting in equal hours (give or take) of daylight and darkness all over the world.

(And why the hell do we still have to contend with Daylight Saving Time?)

In the interest of etymology, with which all Monitor readers must be fascinated, equinox comes from Latin, through Old French, for equal night. So why, you wonder, isn’t it equidies, for equal day? Good question. No answer. But don’t sweat it.

Tonight’s the night that Region 20’s new mystery superintendent will be introduced to the people who’ll be paying his impressive salary. We hope he’s worth it, that he’s really as good at cutting costs as we’ve been told. Promised?

On the subject of education, among the few good things on Donald Trump 47’s agenda is getting rid of the Department of Education, familiarly known as ED, as in erectile dysfunction. ED is only 45 years old, having opened for business in 1980 thanks to the Department of Education Organization Act of 1979, passed by both Democrat-majority houses of the 96^th Congress and signed into law by President Jimmy Carter. The Department of Education had been part of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), along with what’s now the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

So what did ED’s 4,200 employees—the smallest staff of any Cabinet-level agency—who last year got to spend about $268 billion (four percent of the fed’s budget) do for us? Well, they set generally unfair policies on federal financial aid and allegedly monitored the funds. They collected data on schools and “disseminated research.” They focused national attention on “key issues in education” and recommended “reforms,” necessary or not. And they were supposed to prohibit discrimination and ensure equal access to education.

Averaging it out, then, each ED functionary cost taxpayers almost $64 million last year doing that crap. And not accomplishing much.

A good thing ED did during Joe Biden’s inept administration, though, was having Miguel Cardona as Secretary of Education, thus relieving Connecticut of the screw-up who had been the state’s education commissioner. It’s fitting that Cardona has been replaced in ED with Linda McMahon, also from Connecticut, who will enthusiastically do her best to put herself out of a job. We wish her luck.

Congress created the Department of Education, so it’s up to Congress to put it out of the country’s misery. But it’s questionable whether the meager Republican bicameral majorities of the 117^th Congress will be able to do it. In all events, another Trump executive order won’t do it. In the case of euthanizing the Department of Education, however, that’s too bad . . .