Trump signs order to 'begin eliminating' Department of Education

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aiming to eliminate the Department of Education. 

"I will sign an executive order to begin eliminating the federal Department of Education once and for all," Trump said at a White House event celebrating the executive order Thursday. "And it sounds strange, doesn't it? Department of education. We're going to eliminate it. And everybody knows it's right. And the Democrats know it's right. And I hope they're going to be voting for it, because ultimately it may come before them. But, everybody knows it's right. And we have to get our children educated. We're we're not doing well with the world of education in this country. And we haven't for a long time. "

In a room full of Republican governors, supporters and a few young students seated next to him, Trump introduced Education Secretary Linda McMahon before signing the order and said, "hopefully she will be our last secretary of education."

Can Trump shut down the Department of Education?

What we know:

Leavitt acknowledged Thursday that Trump cannot completely shut down the Department of Education, but Trump's action will make the department much smaller than it is today. It will continue managing federal student loans and Pell grants. Other critical department duties such as enforcement of civil rights will remain, she said, but she did not say how they will be fulfilled.

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Trump's administration has already been gutting the agency. Its workforce is being slashed in half, and there have been deep cuts to the Office for Civil Rights and the Institute of Education Sciences, which gathers data on the nation’s academic progress.

What we don't know:

The White House has not spelled out formally which department functions could be handed off to other departments or eliminated altogether. 

What is the Department of Education? 

The backstory:

The idea of the Department of Education dates back to the 1860s, when an office under President Andrew Johnson was created to collect information and statistics about schools. 

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Its status was elevated throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s, as more federal funding was pouring into American education during the Space Race, the War on Poverty and the Civil Rights Movement. 

In 1979, several offices were combined to create the Department of Education we know today.

What happens if the Department of Education is eliminated? 

Dig deeper:

The agency’s main role is financial. The department’s key functions include: 

• Student loans and financial aid
• Civil rights enforcement
• College accreditation
• Money for schools

Closing the department would mean redistributing each of those duties to another agency. 

At her confirmation hearing, McMahon said she would preserve core initiatives, including Title I money for low-income schools and Pell grants for low-income college students. The goal of the administration, she said, would be "a better functioning Department of Education."

By the numbers:

Federal funding makes up a relatively small portion of public school budgets — roughly 14%, according to The Associated Press.  

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Colleges and universities are more reliant on it, through research grants along with federal financial aid that helps students pay their tuition.

The Department of Education oversees $1.6 trillion in federal student loans.

Why does Trump want to eliminate the Department of Education? 

What they're saying:

Trump is not the only Republican candidate to be critical of the department - or even call for its dissolution. 

Ronald Reagan also aimed to eliminate the Department of Education, created under President Carter, as part of the 1980 Republican Party platform. The LA Times described it as a "major goal" when Reagan took office in 1981.

In Jan. 1985, Reagan said, "As you know, I have previously recommended the abolition of the Department of Education. This was because I believed that federal educational programs could be administered effectively without a Cabinet-level agency. While I still feel that this is the best approach, that proposal has received very little support in Congress."

Trump has said the department has been infiltrated by "radicals," and his education plan pledges to cut funding for schools that defy him on a multitude of issues.

"We’re going to end education coming out of Washington, D.C.," Trump said on his website last year. In his platform, he pledged to ensure schools are "free from political meddling."

Trump has reiterated his desire to sign the executive order, telling reporters in the Oval Office recently: "I want to bring the schools back to the states."

The other side:

Advocates for public schools said eliminating the department would leave children behind in an American education system that is fundamentally unequal.

"This isn’t fixing education. It’s making sure millions of children never get a fair shot. And we’re not about to let that happen without a fight," the National Parents Union said in a statement.

Donald J. TrumpEducationPolitics