President Trump asserts the Department of Education has not served the American public effectively.
President Trump has signed an executive order with the aim of dismantling the Department of Education, an agency he claims has mismanaged taxpayer funds and promoted “progressive social experiments.”
Established in 1979, the department is responsible for educational oversight, distributing grants and student aid, and enforcing anti-discrimination policies in federally funded schools. Trump has consistently maintained that the department has become inefficient and overly politicized.
On Thursday, the president directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all actions necessary to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return educational control to state and local levels.”
According to the executive order, eliminating the department “would allow children and their families to find alternatives to a system that is failing them.”
“Public school math and reading scores have declined, despite a more than 245% increase in per-pupil spending since the 1970s, suggesting that increased spending does not guarantee improved education,” the White House stated. It further noted that taxpayer money would no longer be used “on progressive social experiments and obsolete programs.”
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt stated that the department “will be significantly smaller than its current size” and will continue to manage student loans and federal Pell Grants.
The order is part of a broader initiative to reduce “wasteful spending” and bureaucracy, spearheaded by Elon Musk’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (DOGE).
As of last September, the Department of Education had approximately 4,200 employees, according to Time magazine. Secretary McMahon announced earlier this month that the department would be reducing its workforce by nearly 50%.