(LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, although Congressional approval will be needed to carry out his wishes.
“After 45 years, the US spends more money on education by far than any other country and spends more by far per pupil … yet we rank near the bottom of the list in terms of success,” Trump said in a speech before signing the EO.
Department of Education NO MORE! @realDonaldTrump returns education back to the states and parents 🔥 pic.twitter.com/a7Ms3FSp4C
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He has denounced the government body for being populated with “radicals, zealots and Marxists,” and pledged as part of his campaign to remove these infiltrators, citing the harm they inflict on children.
Trump has directed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to “facilitate the closure (of) the Department of Education and return education authority to the States while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely,” according to the White House.
The White House framed the department as useless and counterproductive, offering state management as a more effective strategy to improve educational outcomes.
“Since 1979, the U.S. Department of Education has spent over $3 trillion with virtually nothing to show for it,” the Trump administration declared in a Thursday statement, pointing out that despite a 245% increase in per-pupil spending since the department’s founding, substantial majorities of public-school students are not meeting basic proficiency standards.
A whopping 70% of fourth and eighth graders are not proficient in reading, and 60% of fourth graders and about 75% of eighth graders are not proficient in math, according to the White House. Worse, 40% of fourth graders fail to meet even basic reading levels.
On Thursday, Trump expressed hope that by returning education to the states, America’s rank in educational outcomes will rise to match the highest in the world.
It remains to be seen whether Congress will authorize the dismantling of the Department of Education, an aspiration that faces heated opposition from Democrats. The move’s approval requires 60 Senate votes, and the chamber currently seats only 53 Republicans.
Political maverick and Republican Congressional representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a distinguished MIT alum and electrical engineer, has invited Congress to support Trump by passing a bill he introduced earlier this year to eliminate the Department of Education.
Almost two dozen Democratic attorneys general have mounted a lawsuit against the administration over the president’s “directive to eliminate the Department of Education,” calling it an “unlawful violation of the separation of powers.”
If approved, the executive order would drastically reduce the size of the department, but a remnant would continue to oversee federal student loans and Pell grants, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. A senior administration official has also said that funding for students with disabilities and low-income schools are planned to continue.
“Teachers to me are among the most important people in this country,” Trump said Thursday. “We’re going to take care of our teachers, and I believe states will actually take better care of them than they are being taken care of right now. We’re going to love and cherish our teachers along with the children.”
