President Donald Trump has long vowed to eliminate or at least vastly downsize the Department of Education, saying we should “shut [it] down” and “move education back to the states where it belongs.”
On Tuesday, the administration made moves to accomplish just that. Officials announced that they’re moving authority over key programs from the ED to other departments:
The Department of Justice will take on enforcement of civil rights in education, while the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education, administration officials announced. With those moves, the Education Department has now carved away the vast majority of its functions for other agencies to handle.
The two Education Department offices involved — the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and the Office for Civil Rights — defend the rights of children with disabilities and those who experience discrimination based on race, sex or religion.
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Together, we are advancing a national commitment to ensuring every student is treated with dignity and has an equal opportunity to succeed both in the classroom and on the court or field.