WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration is further dismantling the Education Department, moving oversight of special education and civil rights to other agencies.
The Department of Justice will take on enforcement of civil rights in education, while the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education. The Trump administration made the announcement on Tuesday.
The Department of Justice also will take over work protecting student privacy and will provide some training and advisory help to schools.
Trump, a Republican, campaigned on shutting down the Education Department, saying he would “move education back to the states where it belongs.” While only Congress can close the department, Trump’s education secretary, Linda McMahon, a billionaire and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, has formed agreements with other federal agencies to handle much of her department’s work.
McMahon said the agreements align federal responsibilities with the agencies best positioned to support them.
“The Trump Administration has been clear: as we scale back federal micromanagement when it hinders success, we are equally committed to bolstering the efficacy of federal oversight where it is essential,” McMahon said in a written statement.
The Education Department already has offloaded some of its programs through 10 earlier internal agreements, but the agencies involved in Tuesday’s announcement -- the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and the Office for Civil Rights -- were among the most closely watched.
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services manages billions of dollars in grants and oversees state compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The Office for Civil Rights investigates complaints of discrimination at the nation’s schools and universities.
The changes will undermine accountability and create uncertainty around services that families depend upon, said EdTrust, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that advocates for educational equity.
“As is too often the case, traditionally underserved students — including students with disabilities, Black and Latino students, multilingual learners, students from low-income backgrounds, and students in rural communities — will bear the greatest burden created by this reckless decision, to which the disability and civil rights communities have already been vehemently opposed," the group said in a written statement.
Rachel Gittleman, president of the union that represents department employees, said the decision would create chaos for families, students and schools.
“This will leave our most vulnerable students and families who have been shut out of our education system without the services they need and without protection when they face discrimination,” Gittleman said in written a statement.
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