March 6 (UPI) — President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order as soon as Thursday to direct new Education Secretary Linda McMahon to close the department down.
A draft of the executive order seen by The Washington Post, NPR and ABC News calls on McMahon to “take all necessary steps” to begin the closure process “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”
The draft recognizes it would take an act of Congress to shut down the Department of Education, requiring at least 60 votes in favor of dissolving the department in the Senate.
“The Federal bureaucratic hold on education must end,” the draft states, calling for the department’s main functions to be returned to the states, according to those familiar with the document, ABC News reported.
“The Department of Education’s main functions can, and should, be returned to the states,” the draft said.
It also directs McMahon to distribute federal funding for education programs with precision regarding the law and administration policy.
“The experiment of controlling American education through federal programs and dollars — and the unaccountable bureaucrats those programs and dollars support — has failed our children, our teachers, and our families,” the draft said.
NPR reported that the average of federal dollars make up nearly 10% of funding allocated to public schools, with the rest sourced from states and local taxes. Federal money is mainly targeted toward the population’s particularly vulnerable students, who are those with special needs and those living in rural areas.
Following her Monday confirmation, McMahon reportedly sent out an email to Education Department staffers that called Trump’s plan an overhaul which removes red tape and restores the nation education system, and that it was “our opportunity to perform one final, unforgettable public service to future generations of students.”
She also expressed in her memo that “My vision is aligned with the President’s: to send education back to the states and empower all parents to choose an excellent education for their children.”
Several Department employees have already been laid off, pressured to retire, or placed on paid administrative leave. The Trump administration also heavily stripped the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), an organization responsible for gathering and sharing data that covers such topics as national student achievement and teaching practices. Deep cuts to programs and grants have also been enacted.
