The newly elected president of the United States, Donald Trump, has begun to fulfill the promises he made during his electoral campaign. One of the main tasks on the agenda of the Republican president is the closure of the Department of Education of the United States.
The office, which serves as a federal ministry and operates in Washington, would be completely closed and the responsibilities for educating the American people will be transferred to the states, announced the Republican president on Monday.
What are Donald Trump's reasons for closing the United States Department of Education?
“One of the things I will do at the beginning of my term will be to close the Department of Education in Washington and send all the work of the education system to the states. We want them to focus on the education of our children, because they will do a much better job. We spend three times more per student than any other nation, yet we are still at the bottom of the list. We couldn't do any worse. We will end the Education system from Washington, close all the buildings, where there are even people who hate our children, and send the entire system to the states,” said Trump.
During the electoral campaign, Trump repeatedly pointed out that the agency was a symbol of federal government overreach in the everyday lives of American families. "I say it all the time, I can't wait to come back and do this. In the end, we will eliminate the federal Department of Education," he said in September during a rally in Wisconsin.
"We will drain the swamp of government education and stop the abuse of taxpayers' money to indoctrinate the youth of the United States with all kinds of things that we do not want our young people to hear," said Trump.
This decision naturally received strong criticism from state governments, especially those under Democratic control. On the other hand, Trump's supporters and followers, such as the telecommunications magnate Elon Musk, applauded the decision and described it as a solution to the educational issues in the USA.
Can Trump close the Department of Education?
This department provides billions of dollars each year to low-income public schools and billions more to help millions of Americans pay for college, and it probably won't be easy to shut down.
Firstly, because Trump will need Democratic votes in Congress, and also because it is unlikely that he will be able to secure the support of all Republican lawmakers.
This is not the first time that Republicans have tried to eliminate this department, created by Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1979. Ronald Reagan tried to do so, but later changed his mind. In the first Trump administration, the agency was maintained and conservative Betsy DeVos was appointed as Secretary of Education.