I was driving home to my condo in Washington, D.C., around 9 p.m. after finishing my day at the United States Capitol. Three masked men walked past me purposely, as if they had a mission. A few minutes after settling into my condo, my daughter called and asked if I was the congressman who had just been carjacked.
It wasn’t me, but one of my colleagues had to go through the harrowing experience just a block from where I saw the three masked men.
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There were 750 carjackings in Washington in the 10 months before my colleague became a victim. A gun was used in over 75% of those crimes.
This month, President Donald Trump deployed U.S. National Guard personnel in Washington and put local police under federal control in a bold effort to restore safety in a city riddled with crime and homelessness.
I would encourage President Donald Trump to intervene in Washington’s public education system, which is equally in shambles and a major contributor to the city’s crime epidemic.
The president has the authority—and a moral obligation—to mobilize federal resources to secure our nation’s capital. The District of Columbia is a federal district. The executive branch is responsible for maintaining the peace on federal property. It is no different than if violence broke out at a U.S. military base or a national park.
By all accounts, federal intervention was necessary. Last year, Washington had the fourth-highest homicide rate in the country, which nearly doubled since 2012. If it were a state, it would have the highest homicide rate in the nation. In 2023, Washington’s violent crime rate was more than twice the national 50-state average. Statistically, a person is three times more likely to be murdered in Washington than in Islamabad.
Washington’s lax catch-and-release policies—which crescendoed under former President Joe Biden’s pandemic lockdown that put overhyped fears ahead of public safety—emboldened violent thugs, who came to know they would walk free even if they were caught. A Heritage Foundation report found that fewer than 2% of people illegally carrying firearms were sentenced to prison between 2018 and 2022. In 2022, with police forces at the lowest levels in 50 years, only a third of adult arrests in Washington led to immediate charges.
President Donald Trump’s crackdown has had an immediate effect. This week, Washington marked 12 days without a murder, a feat (an odd term for what should be a norm) achieved only once in at least the past six years. Carjackings and robberies also fell significantly. This is not surprising for most Americans. A serious law enforcement presence actually deters criminals.
With security finally restored to the streets, President Donald Trump should consider implementing proven educational reform in Washington’s schools.
Washington’s public education system is failing students. Only a quarter of eighth-grade students could demonstrate reading proficiency, and over 40% could not read at a basic level, according to the most recent NAEP results. Black and Hispanic students’ scores were, on average, 62 and 56 points lower than those of their White peers, respectively.
In 2023, nearly 60% of Washington high school students were “chronically absent.” Nearly one in four students do not graduate high school in four years, the highest rate in the country.
Evidence unmistakably confirms that higher educational attainment is inversely correlated with criminal behavior. That is, the more educated an individual is, the less likely they are to get involved in illegal activities. High school dropouts are 3.5 times more likely than graduates to be arrested in their lifetime. Two-thirds of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of fourth grade will end up in jail or on welfare.
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It’s no wonder that Washington residents often leave the city for neighboring Virginia and Maryland suburbs. They want better schools for their children. The district’s number of families with young children has fallen by 10% since 2020, more than double the national rate.
It’s time to restore competition, innovation, and choice in Washington, D.C.’s public schools. President Donald Trump — who pledged to dismantle the Department of Education — isn’t afraid to use his executive authority. He is making the district’s streets safe again, and he can make its schools great again.
Ken Buck served in the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2024, representing Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.