President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the Education Secretary to take the necessary steps to close the department and return authority of education to the states.
In an op-ed released early Friday morning, Secretary Linda McMahon laid out her vision for overseeing the department’s closure.
She noted that during the first Trump administration she oversaw the Small Business Association, which was established in the ‘50s to support entrepreneurial startups and privately owned companies. Based on the numbers, the agency’s work has been fruitful, as small businesses have doubled in the U.S. since 1980. In contrast, the opposite has happened under the Department of Education.
Created in 1979 under the Carter administration, Trump and McMahon argued the department has failed Americans since that time, with reading and math scores near historic lows despite more than a trillion in federal spending. McMahon, per Trump’s EO, has now been tasked with dismantling the agency.
She laid out a twofold mandate: “(1) to plan, in coordination with Congress, for eliminating or relocating the functions and operations of the Department of Education, and (2) to ensure that no taxpayer money flows to DEI programs or institutions that embrace DEI.”
Abolishing the department will not happen tomorrow. But we can move in that direction immediately by revising guidance documents and grant competitions to advance the president’s vision of returning education authority to state and local education leaders.
As we begin complying with this executive order, we can also dismantle the last administration’s DEI agenda and reorient civil rights enforcement so that we are protecting all students from harassment and discrimination, including Jewish students studying on elite campuses and female athletes on the field and in the locker room.
Fundamental to this new vision are solid convictions about our work and our leadership role. K-12 education is the responsibility of parents, first and foremost, and an investment in their children’s future.
Parents should be able to decide what school their children attend, ensure the curriculum is free from political agendas, and choose a school that protects their children’s safety and well-being. Students should be able to expect an education that covers the basics with excellence – teaching math, reading and civics rooted in an honest teaching of American history. When they graduate from high school, they should be prepared to enter college or workforce education programs that will provide them with well-paying jobs and fulfilling careers.
As we execute President Trump’s directive, we will systematically unwind unnecessary regulations and prepare to reassign the department’s other functions to the states or other agencies – including funding programs for states to support low-income students and learners with special needs, the distribution of student financial aid, civil rights enforcement and data collection. We will end this system that has over-promised and under-delivered – and empower local education leaders to build something much better in its place. (Fox News)
McMahon was clear about the challenge in closing such an enormous agency, but said it’s a “necessary correction” and one that will bring freedom back to education.
“My responsibility as secretary is to lead this effort transparently by respecting the will of the American people and returning education back to the states," she concluded.
