The U.S. Department of Education took further steps to wind down its operations through six agreements with the U.S. Departments of Interior, Labor, State and Health and Human Services, it said on Tuesday.
“The Trump administration is taking bold action to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states,” stated Linda McMahon, the U.S. education secretary.
“Cutting through layers of red tape in Washington is one essential piece of our final mission,” she said. “As we partner with these agencies to improve federal programs, we will continue to gather best practices in each state through our 50-state tour, empower local leaders in K-12 education, restore excellence to higher education and work with Congress to codify these reforms.”
Under the agreements, the Labor Department will take on a “greater role in administering federal K-12 programs,” and the two agencies will be “streamlining education and workforce efforts,” according to the Trump administration. They will also work on postsecondary education, where the Labor Department will have a “growing role,” it said.
Interior will take on a “greater role in administering Indian education programs,” and Health and Human Services will be involved in evaluating accreditation of foreign medical schools and in childcare programs for parents enrolled in college, the Education Department stated.
The department said that it will work with the U.S. State Department on international education and foreign language studies.
Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and a former U.S. assistant secretary of education for civil rights, told JNS that it is “notable” that the agreements do not include the Education Department’s civil rights office, which has been probing alleged Jew-hatred on campuses.
“We should be careful about the assumptions we make. At the same time, the department has reportedly indicated that more agreements may be coming,” Marcus said.
“To the extent that the Education Department winds down, we should be looking more to other agencies, the states and the courts. Some of us have already been doing that, which is why we are pursuing legal actions in a broader range of venues,” Marcus told JNS.
“It is notable that other agencies have ramped up their approach to campus antisemitism, including notably the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the General Services Administration and even the White House itself,” he added.
Neal McCluskey, director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom, wrote that “the idea of moving Education Department functions elsewhere makes sense, especially things like Indian education to the Interior Department, which already houses the Bureau of Indian Education.”
“The moves also appear to adhere to the Constitution and the law. There is, of course, an argument that the department is unconstitutional and, hence, the president could refuse to operate it. But the administration has not made that argument, saying that ultimately Congress, which is the legislative body, created the department, gave it many of its jobs, and must act to eliminate it,” he wrote.
“With that in mind,” he added, “the administration is not flat-out eliminating functions but is creating interagency agreements that leave the Education Department in charge but give regular operations to other agencies.”
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, stated that “the Democrat shutdown of our federal government made one thing clear: students and teachers can go to class without heavy-handed federal intervention.”
“The Trump administration is making good on its promise to fix the nation’s broken system by right-sizing the Department of Education to improve student outcomes,” he said. “It’s time to get our nation’s students back on track. It’s time to return education to those who are most committed to students’ success: their communities.”
Sydney Altfield, national director of the Orthodox Union’s Teach Coalition, told JNS: “There are still questions about how these changes will work in practice, but we are pleased that the administration remains committed to supporting children and families.”
“Teach Coalition is eager to work with the administration to ensure that transitions are smooth, communication is clear and families continue to receive the programs and support we advocate for and they rely on without interruption,” she said.
