SAO PAULO, SP (Folhapress)-US President Donald Trump advances to fulfill his campaign promise to abolish the Department of Education, said The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday (5).
The American newspaper cited the draft of a decree that instructs the secretary responsible for the portfolio, Linda McMahon, to “adopt all necessary measures for the closure of the Department of Education in the appropriate extension and permitted by law.”
The order can be issued on Thursday, said The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the subject who spoke to the newspaper under anonymous. The White House and the Education Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday night.
The promise of abolishing the folder dates back to Trump’s first term (2017-2021), when the Republican was already talking about closing it. Congress, however, did not act at the time -by law, the Department of Education, created in 1979 under the presidency of Democrat Jimmy Carter, cannot be closed without the approval of at least 60 of the 100 American senators.
During the recent campaign to return to the White House, Trump promised to decentralize education and return the folder’s skills to state governments, and in February, the department called the “Great Farce.” At the time, he also said that he wanted the immediate closure of the agency, but acknowledged that he would need the support of Congress and Teacher Unions.
This time, to circumvent the congress, it should reduce the functionality of the folder by cutting its programs and employees, as you have done with other agencies of the federal government. The measure would attend Trump’s party colleagues, who long want to reduce the financing and influence of the department -folder advocates, an attempt to promote for profit education.
The agency supervises about 100,000 public schools and 34,000 private schools in the US. Although more than 85% of the financing of public institutions come from state and local governments, the folder is responsible, for example, for providing subsidies for assistance programs, including those who pay teachers of children with disabilities.
Immediate closure could stop dozens of billions of dollars for elementary and high school schools and impair the $ 1.6 trillion supervision in student loans used by Americans who cannot afford a sight university.
McMahon stated in a Senate committee last month that the “excessive concentration of power” in Washington was harming education. “What is the medicine? Financing educational freedom, not the government, ”she said.
The 76-year-old businesswoman, who was once executive director of the WWE Log’s League, told senators that she dismantle the department would require Congress action and repeatedly promised the maintenance of school financing for low-income school districts and students.
According to The Washington Post, McMahon and other employees suggested transferring some department functions to other government sectors to dismantle it, although these measures may lead to legal problems.
If it is materialized, the measure would add to the dismantling of other public agencies that Trump and his advisor Elon Musk, ahead of the Government Efficiency Department (or Doge), undertake in the US.
The onslaught against USAID (United States for International Development Agency) has generated the most repercussion so far by impacting humanitarian projects worldwide. Abolling the Department of Education, however, would be the first closure of a ministerial level agency.
Under the management of Democrat Joe Biden, predecessor of Trump, the department suffered criticism from republicans due to the forgiveness of student loans and because of policies related to diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
