United States President Donald Trump has signalled he intends to move forward with plans to dismantle the Department of Education, despite mixed signals from his administration.“Well, I want to just do it. I mean, we’re starting the process,” Trump said at a signing ceremony in the Oval Office on Thursday.
A directive to wind down the Department of Education was expected to be among the orders Trump signed on Thursday.
But in the hours leading up to the Trump’s public appearance in the Oval Office, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denounced reports of an announcement as “more fake news”.
Still, Trump has made no secret of his intention to shutter the Department of Education, a point he revisited on Thursday. Reporters had asked if he had any “second thoughts” that would lead to a delay, something the president refuted.
“ We’re trying to get the schools back into the states. Let the states run the schools,” Trump said, misrepresenting the department’s functions.
The Department of Education is charged with distributing federal financial aid, conducting education research and ensuring school compliance with anti-discrimination and accessibility policies. Advertisement
It does not set school curriculums, a decision left to state and local officials.
Still, Trump doubled down on the idea that the department was a barrier to the states’ control over their schools.
“If they run their own education, they’re going to do a lot better than somebody sitting in Washington, DC, that couldn’t care less about the pupils out in the Midwest,” he said.
When asked …
