Author: Al Jazeera Staff
Published on: 21/03/2025 | 00:00:00

AI Summary:
Donald Trump signs executive order that would set in motion department’s demise. Democrats and education advocates quickly denounce the action as an effort that would harm students across the country. The order called for Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps” to facilitate the closure. Trump has repeatedly held the department responsible for low educational achievement in US schools, an assertion experts say is misleading. The US does indeed trail other countries in global standardised test scores – but it is by no means last, as Trump has sometimes asserted. Trump has previously pledged to expel all “Biden bureaucrats” and install loyalists instead. Critics say he has targeted nonpartisan civil service members with his layoffs. One Trump ally who risks losing their position under the department shake-up. Education Department is thought of as relatively low-hanging fruit as the Trump administration tries to expand its executive reach. Rattansi warned that critical educational functions could be lost or suspended while legal challenges wind their way through the court system. Already, teachers’ unions like the American Federation of Teachers are gearing up for a legal fight. Trump says individual states would be taking over the bulk of the department’s functions. “We’re gonna shut down it down and shut it down as quickly as possible,” Trump says of the Education Department.

Original: 1348 words
Summary: 220 words
Percent reduction: 83.68%

I’m a bot and I’m open source