California officials condemn Trump’s plan to break up Education Department

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California state officials and some education advocates joined others around the country in condemning a plan announced Tuesday by the Trump administration to disassemble the U.S. Department of Education.

The plan creates partnership agreements between the Department of Education and six other federal agencies, allowing the Trump administration to move programs by using an interagency agreement permitted under the Economy Act.

“This is an unnecessary, disruptive change that is going to harm students, especially the most vulnerable,” said California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. “It is clearly less efficient for state departments of education and local school districts to work with four different federal agencies instead of one.” 

The plan moves administration of federal K-12 programs and federal grants for higher education and vocational schools to the Department of Labor. Other changes include: 

• The Department of the Interior will take over administration of all programs related to Native American education. 
• The Department of Health and Human Services will oversee child care programs on college campuses and will evaluate standards of accreditation for foreign medical schools. 
• The State Department will take over the administration of international education grants.

“The Trump Administration is taking bold action to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a statement. “Cutting through layers of red tape in Washington is one essential piece of our final mission. 

“As we partner with these agencies to improve federal programs, we will continue to gather best practices in each state through our 50-state tour, empower local leaders in K-12 education, restore excellence to higher education, and work with Congress to codify these reforms,” she said. 

Dismantling the U.S. Department of Education without a clear and comprehensive plan is a recipe for disaster – creating confusion, inefficiency and a loss of essential expertise and institutional knowledge, said Lupita Cortez Alcalá, executive director of Policy Analysis for California Education. 

“If the United States wants to remain a global leader in education and workforce development, it must invest in a strong infrastructure that draws on knowledge and expertise across sectors,” Alcalá said. “This includes providing coordinated resources, support, guidance and the sharing of best practices nationwide.”

It’s not clear what these changes actually mean for the future of the Department of Education or how dramatically this will impact education in California. 

California State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond said the interagency agreements don’t appear to change much and are likely a public relations stunt by the Trump administration. 

“If you look at the six interagency agreements, five of them are kind of interesting partnerships that don’t have what looks like particular teeth to them,” Darling-Hammond said. “When you read the fine print, it says the department will still maintain oversight, and you should keep calling the same person. Now, will anybody be there to pick up the phone? That’s the question.”

Working with the Department of Education is already challenging for states because of the many layoffs, said Darling-Hammond, adding that the latest changes will likely add to the challenges.

“It’s anyone’s guess how they’re going to try to administer this, but I think they’re trying to walk the line between what would be an illegal effort to disrupt what Congress has agreed to, and what they are seeking to do in making the point, at least symbolically, that they want to disrupt and dismantle the department,” Darling-Hammond said.

In its statement, the Education Department defended its plan to move some offices to other agencies, saying it had broad authority to enter into contracts with other agencies.

During Trump’s campaign for president, he vowed to close the Department of Education and to return the responsibility for education to the states. Only Congress has the authority to close the department.

Trump issued an executive order in March directing McMahon to work within the law to close the department. Since then, half of the agency’s employees — about 1,300 workers — have been laid off.

Lance Christensen, vice president of government affairs and education policy for the California Policy Center, a conservative libertarian public policy organization, says Trump likely took Tuesday’s action to put pressure on Congress to close the Department of Education or make other changes to reduce education programs at the federal level.

“The problem they have is that Congress hasn’t, for whatever reason, been willing to negotiate a complete shutdown of that part of Education,” said Christensen, who supports closing the agency. “So the administration said, ‘OK, we’re going to call your bluff.’ ”

Christensen says this move won’t necessarily save the government much money, but that savings have already been gained by reducing the agency’s workforce.

“I don’t see Congress holding on to pretty much an empty Department of Education for much longer,” he said. “They’re going to have to make a decision at some point in time.”

Christensen would like the federal government to continue to move programs to other agencies until California takes full responsibility for public education in its state.

Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, chair of the Assembly Education Committee, questioned whether officials at the Department of Labor have the experience to administer education programs, especially for students with special needs.

“(This) is just one of many examples of how Donald Trump is attacking our most vulnerable students,” Muratsuchi said.

Media reports quoting official sources have said that special education is not a part of the interagency agreements and will remain in the Department of Education for the time being.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has been a vocal critic of Trump, had no comment on the issue Tuesday, according to his press office. But in October, he criticized efforts to close the U.S. Department of Education, referencing World Wrestling Entertainment, known as the WWE, where Secretary of Education McMahon was formerly the CEO and its co-founder.

“While Trump and the WWE co-founder seek to demolish the U.S. Department of Education, California is generating K-12 test scores that get better and better. With universal meals, added literacy resources and more, we’re helping students thrive in and out of the classroom,” he said.

This story was originally published by EdSource and is republished here with permission.

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