President Donald Trump’s administration has drafted an executive order to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, according to multiple sources and as reported by NBC News. While Trump can’t eliminate the department without congressional approval, the president’s executive action reportedly directs the secretary of education to form a plan weakening the department while he encourages Congress to pass legislation abolishing the federal agency.
The department has long been under scrutiny by Republican politicians who have pushed to shut it down several times, each of them failing to pass Congress. According to the Wall Street Journal, the current administration poses a new threat as it works to eliminate the department from within. Some believe that the President’s support of voucher programs and school choice intends to aid in draining public education of its much-needed funding.
“The intent is clear,” National Education Association President Becky Pringle said in a news release. “Starve our public schools of the resources our students need and funnel these resources to discriminatory and unaccountable private schools or tax cuts for billionaires who funded his campaign.”
Reporting indicates that the executive order would do away with programs that are not directly controlled by the department and transfer functions to other federal departments, stripping the department of many of its vital functions. Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency, has publicly supported the department’s closure.
The Department of Education serves over 50 million public school students and provides programs that aid over 12 million college graduates annually. Public education, which is largely funded by local and state taxes, receives federal funding designated for areas that need the most assistance. The department also funds several programs that benefit students and families, such as Pell Grants, student loans and programs that help disabled students.
Many who work in education worry about what dismantling the education department would mean.
“If it became a reality, Trump’s power grab would steal resources for our most vulnerable students, explode class sizes, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle-class families, take away special education services for students with disabilities, and gut student civil rights protections,” Pringle said.
