According to a White House official, President Donald Trump intends to sign an executive order today to close the U.S. Department of Education that was created in 1979, carrying out a campaign promise to eliminate the agency that has long been a target of conservatives. Trump has derided the Department of Education as wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology. However, completing its dismantling is impossible without an act of Congress for which a bipartisan vote is needed.
According to the new order, Trump-appointed Education Secretary Linda McMahon would be asked “to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return educational authority to the states, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely,” the official who chose to remain anonymous told the media.
The Department has thus far been a vital body for American schools as it not only manages oversight of educational programs but also sends billions of dollars annually to schools and oversees $1.6 trillion in federal student loans. It also plays a significant role in overseeing civil rights enforcement and collects data to improve local education outcomes and efficiency. Meanwhile, the federal body has already suffered massive staff cuts with layoffs of 1,300 employees and there have been drastic funding cuts.
Some advocates for public schools have told the media that eliminating the historic department would negatively affect the entire American education system by making it fundamentally unequal. In more detail, this means that without the department, they fear that the federal government would not look equally at the needs of poor students, those who are still learning English, students with disabilities, and ethnic minorities.
