'We're not prepared': States brace for Trump's plans to dismantle the Education Department
Trump has said he wants school policy to be left to the states, but state officials and lawmakers aren’t clear on what that would look like.
President Donald Trump has set his sights on abolishing the U.S. Education Department and has said he’d prefer to put education policy in the hands of the states.
But that may not be so simple, with state officials and lawmakers saying they’re wildly unprepared for such a huge undertaking.
NBC News reported this month that the White House is preparing an executive order to eliminate the agency, though the details of how that would work remain unclear. Trump cannot unilaterally get rid of a federal agency without congressional approval, and his nominee for education secretary, Linda McMahon, agreed at her recent Senate confirmation hearing that they hope to present a plan that Congress will support.
At a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Trump reiterated his plans for major changes at the agency, saying that “we want to move education back to the states where it belongs.”
Conservatives have for decades circulated an array of ideas on how to abolish or diminish the Cabinet-level agency — plans that include transferring key responsibilities within the department to other federal offices, as well as moving funds and oversight to the states.
Rating: 5