The Department of Education has signed a 10-year cooperative agreement to close
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An official of the Department of Education (ED) told Fox News Digital that employees are working to remove themselves from work under the orders of President Donald Trump because the agency is not needed.
“We will continue to take steps every day to defund the agency to return education to the state to put more power back in the hands of governors and state legislatures and state superintendents and local school board members,” Nicholas Kent, Undersecretary of Education, told Fox News Digital on Monday.
“That’s our offense every day,” he added.
On Thursday, the Department of Education announced that the center will move out of the Lyndon B. Johnson headquarters, so that the Department of Energy can move in by August. The move is what officials call “a smart move to save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and further reduce the federal education bureaucracy.”
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An official of the Department of Education (ED) told Fox News Digital that the employees are working to remove themselves from work because the organization is not needed. (Getty Images)
ED staff recently took their ‘big’ step closer to closure
Kent’s comments come after the department took a big step towards closing it permanently.
The Trump administration announced last week a cooperation agreement between the ED and the Treasury Department, with an official calling it the “biggest step ever” in closing the agency.
The agreement includes moving student loan operations from ED to Treasury, which “will assume operational responsibility for collecting defaulted student loan debt and provide operational support to ED’s efforts to restore borrowers to repayment.”
This agreement follows nine frameworks relationship In the past year, as the ED wants to reduce itself, it is moving the power of some of its offices and programs to other government agencies.
While Congress holds the key to closing efficiency, Secretary Linda McMahon plans to show legislators that the interagency agreements are “proof of concept” that ED is not needed to help federal grants and federal student loans to continue flowing to borrowers.
“We’re showing Congress and others that this proof of concept works and that we want to continue working with Congress to memorialize these changes in the law with the ultimate goal of closing the door and putting them out of business,” Kent told Fox News Digital.
McMahon before that ED a mere “pass-through” of federal funding rather than curriculum control as some tend to expect. McMahon also explained that it is often misunderstood that ED is controlling curriculum.
“We don’t hire teachers, we don’t buy books, there is nothing else we do. We are a pass through for federal funding to ensure that it reaches the states. There are competitive grants that the Department of Education works on to ensure that that funding comes from Congress – there is competition for bids for that,” he said.
Pushback from Democrats and teacher unions
When the administration moved to close the Department of Education, many critics slammed the idea, especially Democrats. Republicans, on the other hand, have embraced it. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., tweeted Tuesday giving “Kudos to President Trump for trying what even Reagan failed to do — to eliminate the Federal Dept. of Education!”
However, Democrats on Capitol Hill criticized the effort.
Democrats strongly criticized the ED staff layoffs. In March of last year, McMahon laid off half of the department’s staff as part of the Trump administration’s broader cuts to government efforts.
Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, held a press conference outside the US Capitol on March 11, criticizing the administration’s cooperation agreements with other departments.
“Trump is setting these programs up for failure,” said Hirono, who was joined by fellow Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. He added that “by pushing these programs to departments that do not have the experience to run these programs, you are putting [up] these are the programs our children depend on so they don’t succeed.”
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Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono. (Nathan Posner)
The nation’s largest teachers union, the National Education Association, called the effort to disband the ED “illegal” shortly after the Trump administration announced partnerships with other agencies. An NEA writer argued last year that the ED is needed to enforce federal laws that “prevent discrimination and ensure that every student receives an education that will help them reach their full potential.”
Randi Weingarten, president of the nation’s second-largest teacher union, the American Federation of Teachers, said “our members across the country are concerned about the impact this will have on their students.”
THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION CONCLUDES THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN SHOWS THAT HIS DEPARTMENT IS NOT NEEDED.
Bringing education back to the states
Another method the Trump administration is using to reduce the ED’s footprint is to return more power to the states.
The ED has introduced a new process that will allow states to reduce the administrative burden to use federal funds as they see fit. Iowa was the first state to join the effort. The Department of Education sent a letter to states in July of last year encouraging all states to apply for a waiver to allow state education officials more discretion with state dollars and reduce compliance costs.
McMahon touted Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ decision to charge federal dollars directly to students after they are typically covered for compliance costs, which are a burden placed on states by the federal government.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Kent argued to Fox News Digital that the ED “has spent more than $3 trillion since 1980 in support of education from the federal level.”
“Yet our K to 12 NAEP scores continue to decline,” she said.
Fox News Digital previously reported that the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often referred to as the “National Report Card,” showed that 12th graders’ scores in math and reading have dropped to record lows, continuing at a steady rate. refuse.
“The Department of Education is not doing well for students and families. So our goal in these interagency agreements is to show Congress that there is a better way forward for students and families,” said Kent.
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