President Donald Trump signed a groundbreaking executive order on Thursday directing the dismantling of the Department of Education. This move aims to restore control over education to states and local communities.
Surrounded by schoolchildren, lawmakers, and Republicans, Trump declared that the federal government’s decades-long grip on education had failed America’s children, teachers, and families.
“The experiment of controlling American education through Federal programs and dollars — and the unaccountable bureaucracy those programs and dollars support — has plainly failed,” Trump stated before signing the order.
Trump’s remarks pointed out that the department, established under President Jimmy Carter in 1979, faced opposition from figures across the political spectrum, including the American Federation of Teachers.
The executive order instructs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities.”
According to the order, this process should preserve essential services, including student loans, Pell Grants, Title I funding, and resources for children with disabilities, which will be transferred to other agencies.
Linda McMahon, in her first comments on the order, explained that closing the department will not cut off funds for those who depend on them. She pledged to work with Congress and state leaders to “eliminate the bureaucracy responsibly” and “ensure a lawful and orderly transition.”
“Closing the Department does not mean cutting off funds from those who depend on them — we will continue to support K-12 students, students with special needs, college student borrowers, and others who rely on essential programs,” McMahon said. “We are sending education back to the states where it so rightly belongs. Education is fundamentally a state responsibility.”
Trump also stressed his commitment to supporting teachers, regardless of union affiliation, and expressed his belief that states would ultimately provide better care and resources for educators than the federal government.
“We’re going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible. It’s doing us no good,” Trump said, pledging that his administration would take all lawful steps to end the Department of Education’s authority.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt noted that the president would address whether he intends to seek congressional approval to codify the executive order. As it stands, abolishing the department will require congressional cooperation.
The White House pointed out that since its inception, the Department of Education has spent over $3 trillion with “virtually nothing to show for it.”
According to the administration, spending per pupil has increased by more than 245 percent over the years, with no significant improvement in student achievement.
Trump’s move to dismantle the Department of Education marks a significant step in his longstanding campaign pledge to return power over education to parents, communities, and states. Whether Congress will cooperate with the president’s historic order remains to be seen.