US Education Dept using non-disclosure agreements in reorganisation

The Trump administration is advancing its plan to dismantle the Department of Education and is using nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) to shield official discussions with the administration, according to four people familiar with the changes.

- 

Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced in the week of Nov 17 plans for most federal education programmes and staff to relocate to six other agencies, like the departments of Labour and Health and Human Services.

But the full scope of the logistics and timing remains unclear to the public, education advocates and Congress, which oversees and funds the department.

The reorganisation marks a significant step towards a longstanding conservative goal, but the NDAs for senior officials and directors are unusual for the department with no national security role, according to two people familiar with the strategy.