ATLANTA — President Donald Trump is considering dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, an act he says could help him shrink the federal bureaucracy and workforce.
Channel 2′s Karyn Greer reached out to the Georgia Department of Education, and some county superintendents, to learn more about what that would mean for Georgians.
“Your state is going to control your children’s education,” Trump said at a campaign rally in October. “We’re moving it out of Washington.”
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The president said he was finalizing plans to gut the Department of Education.
Sources told ABC News that he’s now weighing an executive order to have his education secretary submit a proposal to dismantle the agency and call on U.S. Congress to eliminate it, fulfilling a campaign promise.
Greer asked Georgia Superintendent of Schools Dr. Richard Woods for a comment, and while his office said he is unable to comment on speculative scenarios, the department gave Channel 2 Action News a statement.
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“The abolition of the U.S. Department of Education would require an act of Congress—with specific provisions regarding roles, programs, funding streams and authority of state education agencies outlined in the legislation,” the statement said.
Education is already a primarily state and local responsibility, but the federal agency does serve more than 50 million students at about 130,000 public and private schools, providing billions of dollars in financial aid to students with disabilities and schools in low income communities.
Republicans in Congress indicated they aren’t concerned.
“To my friends who are upset, I would say with respect, call somebody who cares,” Sen. John Kennedy of Louisisana said. “You better get used to this. It’s USAID today, it’s going to be the Department of Education tomorrow.”
In Atlanta, former Atlanta Public Schools board chair Keisha Waites had a different response.
“Our youth must receive a world-class education to stay competitive in today’s global, technology-driven world. Eliminating the Department of Education could have long-lasting, detrimental effects, severely hindering our children’s future and workforce development, setting us back for decades,” Waites told Greer.
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