Trump Management Advances Plan to Dismantle Education Department
WASHINGTON (AP) – In a notable move toward its long-stated goal, teh Trump administration is initiating a series of agreements to transfer key functions of the Department of Education to other federal agencies, effectively outsourcing large portions of the department’s operations. The move, announced today, is being framed as a test case to demonstrate the viability of operating the nation’s education system without a dedicated federal department.
Under the plan, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Office of postsecondary education – two of the Education Department’s largest units - will be largely transferred to other agencies. While oversight of student loan policy and collage accreditation for federal financial aid eligibility will remain within the Education department, the bulk of their responsibilities will be dispersed.
Health and Human services will assume control of grant programs for college-attending parents, as well as management of foreign medical school accreditation. The State Department will take over foreign language programs, and the Department of the Interior will oversee programs related to Native American education.
The move comes as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and others within the administration have increasingly criticized the department’s effectiveness, arguing it has become a “bloated bureaucracy” despite lagging student outcomes. DeVos has publicly campaigned for shuttering the department entirely, advocating for greater versatility for states in how they allocate federal education funding, including resources earmarked for literacy and education for homeless students.
However, abolishing the department would require Congressional approval, a challenge elaborate by existing bipartisan support for some of its core functions.
A union representing department workers, AFGE Local 252, voiced strong opposition to the plan.”Students, educators and families depend on the agency’s support for schools,” said President Rachel Gittleman. “That national mission is weakened when its core functions are scattered across other federal or state agencies that are not equipped or positioned to provide the same support and services as ED staff.”
Administration officials say DeVos will continue to tour schools across the country and lobby lawmakers on Capitol Hill to build support for her vision.
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