Department Of Education Is Being Dismantled By Trump Executive Order

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For months before being elected as President of the United States, Donald Trump spent a good portion of his campaign rallies telling his constituents that he would end the U.S. Department of Education.

Trump believes that states should have complete control over their schools; often citing failing test scores as proof that the Department of Education. was a failure. 

Once in office, President Trump and his staff spent the first few weeks cutting the Department of Education staff in half. He literally squeezed the department dry, firing some 1,300 employees. 

On Thursday, Trump will move one step closer to ending the Department of Education as we know it, by signing an executive order to dismantle the agency, even though it can only be officially dismantled by Congress.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon is set to take “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States,” USA Today reports. It also calls for the “uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”

So what does all of this mean for you? Nothing, yet. 

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While the move is mostly symbolic, it delivers on another Trump campaign promise. Democrats are most likely going to challenge the legality of Trump’s executive order, bringing on all kinds of lawsuits. Even if the Education Department is abolished, student loans aren’t going anywhere, as the program — currently under the Department of Education — would most likely be moved to another department, like the U.S. Treasury.

Just because Trump signed an executive order doesn’t mean the doors to the agency will be closed immediately, in fact, Republicans have been pushing to shutter the Department of Education since it was established in 1979.  The real hit was the reduced workforce created shortly after Trump took office. The agency is a shell of itself, and those left over are there only to service federally funded programs for schools.   

A draft of the order, which was seen by USA Today, plans to take aim at “regulations and paperwork required by the Department of Education, arguing federal guidance in the form of ‘Dear Colleague’ letters from the department ‘redirect resources toward complying with ideological initiatives, which diverts staff time and attention away from schools’ primary role of teaching.”

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Republicans have always believed that the federal government has too much control of local and state education policy. By pushing to end the Education Department, Trump has cleared the way for state-sponsored legislation which could include things such as prayer in public schools. 

But in the end, this isn’t going to happen. The Department of Education isn’t going anywhere. Democrats won’t support this, and it’s unclear whether moderate Republicans support this. But what is clear is that Trump loves big symbolic gestures, and it looks good to sign executive orders even when they have no chance of passing Congress. 

And we all know that Trump loves a good show. 

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