Donald Trump Signs Executive Order To Dismantle Education Department
The order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States."
US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to dimantle the Department of Education, a decades-old goal of the American right, which wants individual states to run schools free from the federal government. Notably, the Department of Education was termed as a “big con job" last month.
Trump in February had called for the immediate closure of the federal Department of Education, reiterating his desire to shut down the agency.
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Surrounded by schoolchildren sitting at desks set up in the East Room of the White House, Trump smiled as held up the order after signing it at a special ceremony.
Trump said the order would “begin eliminating the federal Department of Education once and for all." “We’re going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible. It’s doing us no good," Trump said. “We’re going to return education back to the states where it belongs."
Trump’s Campaign Promise
Created in 1979, the Education Department cannot be shuttered without the approval of Congress. However, Trump’s order will likely have the power to starve it of funds and staff.
The move honours one of Trump’s campaign promises and is among the most drastic steps yet in the brutal overhaul of the government that Trump is carrying out with the help of tech tycoon Elon Musk.
The order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States."
However, Democrats and educators have slammed the move. Top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, called it a “tyrannical power grab" and “one of the most destructive and devastating steps Donald Trump has ever taken."
Meanwhile, Trump said that the move is necessary as to save money and improve educational standards in the United States, claiming they are lagging behind those in Europe and China.
Trump promised on the campaign trail to get rid of the department and devolve its powers to US states, in much the same way that has happened with abortion rights.
But the White House said earlier that a rump education department was likely to stay on to deal with “critical functions" including loans and some grants for low-income students.
“The Department of Education will be much smaller than it is today," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters before the signing.
The Heritage Foundation — a right-wing think-tank that has seen many of its “Project 2025" recommendations adopted by Trump — welcomed the move.
“It’s a beautiful day to dismantle the Department of Education," it said on X.
Traditionally the US government has had a limited role in education, with only about 13 percent of funding for primary and secondary schools coming from federal coffers, the rest being funded by states and local communities.
(With agency inputs)
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