Trump Signs Order Aimed at Dismantling Education Department

US President Donald Trump on March 20 signed an order aimed at "eliminating" the Department of Education, a decades-old goal of the American right, which wants individual states to run schools free from the influence of the federal government.

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WASHINGTON -

Surrounded by schoolchildren sitting at desks set up in the East Room of the White House, Mr. Trump smiled as he held up the order after signing it.

He said the order would "begin eliminating the federal Department of Education once and for all." "We're going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible. It's doing us no good," he added. "We're going to return education back to the states where it belongs."

The Department of Education, created in 1979, cannot be shuttered without the approval of Congress — but Mr. Trump's order will likely have the power to starve it of funds and staff.

The move honors one of Mr. Trump's campaign promises and is among the most drastic steps yet in the brutal overhaul of the government that he is carrying out with the help of tech tycoon Elon Musk.

The order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the states."

Democrats and educators have slammed the move.