U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to initiate the process of dismantling the Department of Education, arguing that the federal agency has failed to improve education despite decades of increased spending.
Trump assured that essential programs like Pell Grants and Title I funding for children with disabilities would be preserved and reassigned to other agencies, but the department itself would be shut down.
“Today we take a very historic action that was 45 years in the making. I will sign an executive order to begin eliminating the Federal Department of Education once and for all. Democrats know it’s right. I hope they’re going to be voting for it because ultimately it may come before them. We have to get our children educated. We’re not doing well with the education in this country and we haven’t for a long time,” Trump stated.
Citing Poor Performance and Rising Costs
Trump argued that the department’s creation in 1979 under former President Jimmy Carter was widely opposed at the time, including by members of Carter’s own cabinet and prominent Democrats.
“When President Carter created the federal education department in 1979, it was opposed by members of his cabinet as well as the American Federation of Teachers, the New York Times editorial board, and the famed Democrat Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan,” he said.
According to White House data, the U.S. Department of Education has spent over $3 trillion since its inception, with per-student spending increasing by over 245%. However, Trump claimed there has been little improvement in educational outcomes.
Key Statistics from White House Reports:
- Math and reading scores for 13-year-olds are at the lowest levels in decades.
- 60% of fourth graders and nearly 75% of eighth graders are not proficient in math.
- 70% of fourth and eighth graders lack proficiency in reading, with 40% of fourth graders failing to meet even basic reading levels.
- U.S. students rank 28th out of 37 OECD nations in math.
Trump specifically pointed to Baltimore, stating, “40% of the high schools have zero students who can do basic mathematics— not even the very simplest of mathematics.”
Budget Cuts and Reallocation of Resources
Despite what he called “breathtaking failures,” Trump highlighted that the Department of Education’s discretionary budget has exploded by 600%.
As part of the executive order, Trump announced a 50% reduction in department staff and plans to defund the agency entirely.
“My administration has initiated a reduction in force. We’ve cut the number of bureaucrats in half,” he said.
However, Trump reassured that funding for students with disabilities and federal scholarships would remain intact and would be reassigned to other institutions.
“The Department’s useful functions— Pell Grants, Title I funding, resources for children with disabilities and special needs— will be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them,” Trump said.
Returning Control to the States
Trump reiterated that his goal is to return control of education to the states, which he believes would improve quality while reducing costs.
“We want to return our students to the States. We want education to come back to the States, and they’re going to do a phenomenal job. It’s a commonsense thing to do, and it’s going to work,” he stated.
Trump also suggested that the new system would allow the U.S. to better compete with countries like China and those in Europe.
“If you look at Denmark, Norway, Sweden— I give them a lot of credit. China is in the top 10, so we can’t now say that bigness is making it impossible to educate because China is very big. But you have countries that do a very good job in education,” he said.
Commitment to Teachers
Toward the end of his speech, Trump made a “personal statement” regarding teachers, promising that they would not be neglected, even if they opposed his decision.
“I want to just make one little personal statement— teachers, to me, are among the most important people in this country, and we’re going to take care of our teachers. I don’t care if they’re in the union or not. That doesn’t matter, but we’re going to take care of our teachers. I believe the states will take better care of them,” he said.
“We want to have our children well-educated. We want them to love going to school,” he added.
Trump’s executive order marks the beginning of a long legislative and administrative process, as Congress will need to pass legislation to formally dismantle the department.