Trump is signing an executive order that would abolish the department
The British rock group Pink Floyd put it succinctly back in 1979, just about the time the U.S. Department of Education was being founded:
We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teacher, leave them kids alone
Since then, there has been a festering resentment in some quarters about the degree of influence Washington maintains over local school systems in the United States.
The Department of Education (DOE) takes the brunt of that resentment and today it paid the price as President Donald J. Trump raised his pen to sign an executive order that, if carried out, would abolish the department.
The presidents executive order directs Education SecretaryLinda McMahonto ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely while clearing the way for DOE'sclosure.
Trump was scheduled to appear at a signing ceremony including several Republican governors, state officials and education commissioners.
What happens now?
Just how this will be carried out is another story. The department administers$1.6 trillion in federal student loans and billions of dollars in programs for colleges and school districtsaround the country and makes up 14% of public school budgets, often for supplemental programs for vulnerable students, according to an Associated Press report.
Trump has traditionally blamed the DOE and, to a lesser extent, local school systems for the poor test scores that are a hallmark of the modern era. The White House says that wiping out the Education Department will solve that.
It will "empower parents, states and communities to take control and improve outcomes for all students, Washington Post reporterLaura Meckler reports. But administration officials have not explained how reducing the federal role in education will improve outcomes.
What will Congress say?
An executive order is one thing but an act of Congress is another and that, of course, is what established the DOE. Whether it can be eliminated on the basis of a Presidential signature remains to be seen.
The move is certain to be challenged in court and may cause heartburn for many GOP representatives whose home districts are on the receiving end of federal funds that flow into poorer districts at a faster pace than wealthier ones.
Nevertheless, Congress aside, Trump may be able to simply starve the department to death by gutting its funding and firing most of its staff, as he did recently with USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, both effectively dead in the water at the moment.
Besides pulling the plug on DOE, Trump has turned his sights on higher education, cutting funding to major universities that espouse diversity (DEI) programs and tolerate campus protests.
Jimmy Carter's signature came first
Just as one president's signature may effectively abolish the department, another president's signature, that of Jimmy Carter, created it. He signed a bill passed by Congress on October 17, 1979 and the DOE became operational the next year.
Ironically, given the role of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in disabling it, the DOE's stated purposes was toimprove efficiency in managing education-related policies by centralizing programs under the federal umbrella, demonstrating the differing definitions of efficiency pursued by the DOGE and the DOE.
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Posted: 2025-03-20 20:03:07
