Trump Admin Downsizing the Education Department
The downsizing comes in the form of interagency agreements.
***UPDATE!!
The Trump administration announced significant changes to the Education Department.
The moves won’t eliminate the department (unfortunately), but they will downsize it bigly!
This morning, I noted that Secretary of Education Linda McMahon wrote an op-ed on Sunday proposing ideas to downsize the department.
It turns out that the op-ed did include the changes.
The press release claimed the changes “break up federal education bureaucracy,” but these partnerships are all with federal departments. To me, it seems like the Education Department is just passing the buck:
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) today announced six new interagency agreements (IAAs) with four agencies to break up the federal education bureaucracy, ensure efficient delivery of funded programs, activities, and move closer to fulfilling the President’s promise to return education to the states. By partnering with agencies that are best positioned to deliver results for students and taxpayers, these IAAs will streamline federal education activities on the legally required programs, reduce administrative burdens, and refocus programs and activities to better serve students and grantees.
These new partnerships with the Departments of Labor (DOL), Interior (DOI), Health and Human Services (HHS), and State mark a major step toward improving the management of select ED programs by leveraging partner agencies’ administrative expertise and experience working with relevant stakeholders. These agreements follow a successful workforce development partnership signed with DOL earlier this year, which has created an integrated federal education and workforce system and reduced the need for states to consult multiple federal agencies to effectively manage their programs.
“The Trump Administration is taking bold action to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states,” said McMahon. “Cutting through layers of red tape in Washington is one essential piece of our final mission. As we partner with these agencies to improve federal programs, we will continue to gather best practices in each state through our 50-state tour, empower local leaders in K-12 education, restore excellence to higher education, and work with Congress to codify these reforms. Together, we will refocus education on students, families, and schools – ensuring federal taxpayer spending is supporting a world-class education system.”
The Department of Labor will have “a greater role in administering federal K-12 programs, ensuring these programs are better aligned with workforce and college programs to set students up for success at every part of their education journey.”
The DOL will also have “a greater role in administering most postsecondary education grant programs authorized under the Higher Education Act.”
The ED partnered with the Department of the Interior regarding Indian education. DOI will help out more “with administering Indian Education programs relating to elementary and secondary education, higher education, career and technical education, and vocational rehabilitation, solidifying the agency as the key point of contact for Tribes and Native students.”
The Department of Health and Human Services will handle a foreign medical accreditation and a child care grant program for college students.
The State Department established “the International Education and Foreign Language Studies Partnership to improve efficiencies for programs administered under the Fulbright-Hays grant” with the ED.
Previous Reporting
According to The Washington Post, President Donald Trump has begun planning to dismantle most of the Department of Education.
Remember, Trump cannot eliminate a department. It has to go through Congress.
Sources told the publication the announcement will come today. I will update this post if it happens.
The move would affect six departments by moving them to four other agencies.
An op-ed from McMahon, published in USA Today on Sunday, reiterated her belief that education should be as local as possible:
I know that education is best managed by the educators and leaders closest to families, because I have witnessed innovative schools and outstanding educators delivering for students across the country. We’ll continue our 50-state listening tour to hear from students, teachers, and K-12 and postsecondary leaders about the education strategies that are improving learning outcomes in their communities. We plan to spotlight these best practices to help state leaders craft policies that work.
McMahon also reassured readers that federal assistance would not end:
To be clear, returning education to the states does not mean the end of federal support for education. It simply means the end of a centralized bureaucracy micromanaging what should be a state-led responsibility. Funding for low-income students and students with disabilities predates the Education Department and will continue indefinitely. Protecting students’ civil rights is work that will never go away.
These critical functions are required by law and will continue – even if the building where they are housed does not have “Education” on the door.
McMahon mentioned moving some departments to other agencies. The Education Department already partnered with the Department of Labor concerning federal workplace development.
Trump started all of this when he took office in January.
In March, Trump issued an executive order to close the Education Department and asked Secretary Linda McMahon to work with Congress.
Quickly after that, McMahon began firing people.
“Today’s reduction in force reflects the Department of Education’s commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers,” said McMahon at the time. “I appreciate the work of the dedicated public servants and their contributions to the Department. This is a significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system.”
The department even offered buyouts for employees.
McMahon and Trump have always said that education should be at the state level. It should actually be as local as possible.
The education needs in Oklahoma City are not the same as those in a rural town.
Plus, each child is different. People are not robots.
During the Schumer shutdown, McMahon said it proved the Education Department is not needed.
“Two weeks in, millions of American students are still going to school, teachers are getting paid, and schools are operating as normal,” McMahon wrote on X on October 15. “It confirms what the President has said: the federal Department of Education is unnecessary, and we should return education to the states.”
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Comments
Common sense, the Communists will hate it
Frau Weingarten on suicide watch.
Ok. Read my mind. You know what I want to say here.
I believe I do, yes….
Long past due. The so-called ‘education’ department has destroyed education.
Mission accomplished.
If the States want to build up a replacement ED bureaucracy at the State level to replicate functions being shuttered that’s up to them and their budget.
A lot of states do already, i believe.
Good. The president can’t abolish the department, but he can trim it down to doing only those things that the law requires it to do, and nothing else.
The department identifies four key functions:[18]
Establishing policies on federal financial aid for education and distributing as well as monitoring those funds.
Collecting data on America’s schools and disseminating research.
Focusing national attention on key issues in education and making recommendations for education reform.
Prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education.
The Department of Education is a member of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness[19] and works with federal partners to ensure proper education for homeless and runaway youth in the United States.
and THIS IS WHY^^^^
it needs to be abolished by congress nowww!
local issues feds need to stay out