U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon is elaborating more on what the future of the Department of Education will look like as she is tasked with dismantling the same agency she now oversees.
Speaking Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” McMahon said gutting the department will not necessarily mean defunding “outward facing programs.” Instead, she said the effort is more focused on increasing efficiency by shifting oversight of those programs to other government agencies and eliminating “a lot of strings attached” regarding how states are able to spend federal funds.
“Governors and state superintendents of education have said, ‘look, if we have the funding coming in which allows us to be more creative, how can we spend that?'” said McMahon. “The president believes as I do that the best education is that that’s closest to the students.”
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McMahon went on to use Louisiana as an example, saying the state has seen the greatest improvement to student test scores because of programs at the local level.
“Those are programs that were put in place by the governors, by the superintendent of education — not having anything to do with the Department of Education and Washington,” she stated. “So what we need to do is make sure that the funding has a clear path, the funding continues, but that the states are allowed to spend the money where they need to spend it.”
McMahon’s remarks come just days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order from the White House, delivering on a campaign promise to begin eliminating the Department of Education. He and other Republicans claim the department has been costly while failing to improve student test scores, and that decisions on education are better made at the local level.
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“We’re going to be returning education, very simply, back to the states where it belongs … it’s a common sense thing to do, and it’s going to work,” President Trump said.
The president noted that the federal government would continue to maintain programs related to Pell Grants, Title I and resources for children with special needs.
The Department of Education was established in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter in an effort to make education a national priority, but Republicans have long called for its reform or elimination.
Earlier this month, McMahon announced plans to reduce the department’s workforce by 50%. Approximately 2,000 employees have left or been terminated since January.
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Democratic leaders, meanwhile, argue eliminating the department will ultimately harm students.
“Class sizes will soar, educators will be fired, special education programs will be cut and college will get even more expensive, at a time when the cost of living is already too high,” warned House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer echoed that statement, calling President Trump’s executive order one of the most “destructive and devastating steps” he has ever taken.