- Title: FILE: Trump signs order aimed at dismantling US Department of Education
- Date: 20th March 2025
- Summary: REUTERS, GRIESHEIM, 21.03.2025 SPARGELBAUER BODO MÖNICH BEIM SPARGELSTECHEN, ZWEI EINSTELLUNGEN MÖNICH IM GESPRÄCH MIT ERNTEHELFER ERNTEHELFER LEGT SPARGEL IN KISTE / MITARBEITER BEIM SPARGELSTECHEN STORCH AUF NEST ERNTEHELFER DECKEN SPARGELBEETE AB MÖNICH BEIM SPARGELSTECHEN, VERSCHIEDENE EINSTELLUNGEN ERNTEHELFER BEIM SPARGELSTECHEN MÖNICH PACKT KISTEN MIT SPARGEL INS AU
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: DOE McMahon Trump education protest
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C.,/ DENVER, COLORADO/ PALM BEACH, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C.,/ DENVER, COLORADO/ PALM BEACH, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: North America,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001052820032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Flanked by students and educators, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday (March 20) signed an executive order intended to essentially dismantle the federal Department of Education, making good on a longstanding campaign promise to conservatives.
The order is designed to leave school policy almost entirely in the hands of states and local boards, a prospect that alarms liberal education advocates.
Thursday's order was a first step "to eliminate" the department, Trump said at a signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Shuttering the agency completely requires an act of Congress, and Trump lacks the votes for that.
The signing followed the department's announcement last week that it would lay off nearly half of its staff, in step with Trump's sweeping efforts to reduce the size of a federal government he considers to be bloated and inefficient.
Education has long been a political lightning rod in the United States. Conservatives favor local control over education policy and school-choice options that help private and religious schools, and left-leaning voters largely support robust funding for public schools and diversity programs.
But Trump has elevated the fight to a different level, making it part of a generalized push against what conservatives view as liberal indoctrination in America's schools from the university level down to K-12 instruction.
He has sought to re-engineer higher education in the United States by reducing funding and pushing to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies at colleges and universities, just as he has in the federal government.
Columbia University, for example, faced a Thursday deadline to respond to demands to tighten restrictions on campus protests as preconditions for opening talks on restoring $400 million in suspended federal funding.
The White House also argues the Education Department is a waste of money, citing mediocre test scores, disappointing literacy rates and lax math skills among students as proof that the return on the agency's trillions of dollars in investment was poor.
Local battles over K-12 curricula accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic, which saw parents angrily confront officials at school board meetings nationwide. It was a discontent that Trump, other Republican candidates and conservative advocacy groups such as Moms for Liberty tapped into.
Trump suggested on Thursday that he will still seek to close down the department entirely, and that he wants Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who attended the White House event, to put herself out of a job.
The department oversees some 100,000 public and 34,000 private schools in the United States, although more than 85% of public school funding comes from state and local governments. It provides federal grants for needy schools and programs, including money to pay teachers of children with special needs, fund arts programs and replace outdated infrastructure.
It also oversees the $1.6 trillion in student loans held by tens of millions of Americans who cannot afford to pay for college outright.
For now, Trump's executive order aims to whittle the department down to basic functions such as administering student loans, Pell Grants that help low-income students attend college and resources for children with special needs.
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