President Trump recently signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, the federal agency responsible for managing federal funding for certain school districts, enforcing civil rights laws, maintaining access for students with disabilities and overseeing $1.6 trillion in student loans. Trump said the department, which was created by Congress in 1979, is wasteful and that his goal is to return education authority to the states.
“We’re going to shut it down as quickly as possible,” Trump said on March 20. But the president cannot completely eliminate the department on his own. Dismantling it would require the approval of Congress.
And many educators argue that key services and funding the department provides are critical and cannot be replicated on the state level.
The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers — the nation’s two largest teachers’ unions — have filed lawsuits against the administration, arguing the department’s shuttering would put vulnerable students at risk.
Yahoo News is asking teachers, administrators and other school staff around the country for their reactions to Trump’s order and how closing the Department of Education would affect their schools and students.
Are you a teacher, administrator or public school employee? What do you think about the efforts to dismantle the Department of Education? Let us know in the form below.
