President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday calling to dismantle the U.S. Education Department. This fulfills a promise made during his campaign to destroy an agency that has long been a target of conservatives.
Trump has criticized the Education Department for being wasteful and contaminated by liberal ideologies. It is unlikely that Congress will act to dismantle the department, as it was created in 1979. Republicans have said that they will introduce legislation to accomplish this.
However, the department is not going to be closed completely. The White House stated that the department would retain certain essential functions.
Trump announced that his administration would close the department if it is not needed for its “core needs.” The department will still be responsible for funding Title I for schools with low incomes, Pell Grants, and money for disabled children. The White House announced earlier that it would continue to manage federal loans.
The president said that the Department of Education was to blame for America’s poor academic performance. He added that states would do a much better job.
“It’s doing us no good,” he said at a White House ceremony.