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President Trump took a big step today to shake up education in America. He signed an executive order to start shutting down the U.S. Department of Education. Flanked by kids at the White House, Trump said this move gives power back to parents and states. The order tells Education Secretary Linda McMahon to start closing the department while keeping programs like student loans and help for disabled kids running.
The decision comes after years of failing test scores in schools. Trump says the federal government wasted trillions of dollars but kids still can’t read or do math right. He wants states and local communities to call the shots instead of Washington bureaucrats. This fulfills a promise Trump made during his campaign to get rid of what he calls a “failed top-down system.”
Some folks are cheering this change. Sarah Parshall Perry and Angela Morabito, two education experts, said this order is a win for parents. They pointed out that states like Minnesota saw test scores drop under big-government policies. Homeschooling rose there as parents fled failing schools. Morabito called today “the start of an incredible new era” where families can pick schools that work.
Not everyone’s happy. Teachers union boss Randi Weingarten blasted the move as an attack on public schools. She accused Trump of hurting kids to help his political friends. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz claimed Trump “has no idea how education works.” But supporters fired back, noting Walz’s own state schools are sinking in national rankings.
The Department of Education once had 4,000 workers and spent $80 billion yearly. Last week, nearly half its staff got laid off. McMahon says closing it properly needs Congress to vote – which could be tough. But Trump’s team plans to keep cutting until the job’s done, even if it takes years.
Trump’s team argues federal rules smothered schools with paperwork about race and gender instead of teaching basics. They canceled $226 million in grants pushing radical gender ideas in classrooms. McMahon promised to protect money for disabled students and low-income families while axing waste on “social experiments.”
Democrats and unions fear this will gut help for poor kids. But Trump supporters say bloated budgets didn’t fix schools – just paid bureaucrats. They point to Baltimore high schools where zero students passed math tests last year. “More money doesn’t mean better education,” one advocate said.
This fight’s just starting. While Trump acts boldly, final closure needs Congress. But for now, conservatives celebrate crushing what they call a failed liberal project. As one supporter put it: “Parents finally get to drive the bus instead of union bosses and Washington pencil-pushers.”
