President Donald Trump is mulling to sign an executive order on Thursday aimed at initiating the shutdown of the US Department of Education, a move that aligns with his longstanding campaign pledge to dismantle the agency, according to a White House official. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of the formal announcement, said the order would mark a key step in Trump’s effort to reduce federal involvement in education, the Associated Press reported.
Trump has often criticised the Department of Education, describing it as “inefficient” and “heavily influenced by liberal ideologies”. The agency has often been in the crosshairs of conservative critics, who argue that education policy should be determined at the state and local levels rather than managed federally. However, despite the executive order, experts note that dissolving the department would require legislative action from Congress, which established the agency back in 1979.
A White House fact sheet said the order would direct Secretary Linda McMahon “to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure (of) the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
The Trump administration has already been gutting the agency through layoffs and programme cuts. The department is working to cut in half its workforce and reduce the Office for Civil Rights and the Institute of Education Sciences, which gathers data on the nation’s academic progress.
