Will the U.S. Department of Education end with a bang or a whimper? So far this year, President Donald Trump’s executive orders have arrived with a bang, directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take “all necessary steps” to close the agency. The department proceeded to cut overgrown staff rolls and plans to move programs for children with disabilities and management of student loans to other federal offices.
But for Washington to finish the job, maintaining civil rights protections for students and simultaneously disentangling the federal bureaucracy from classrooms, officials will need more than a whimper—they will need legislation.
Trump’s team has already reduced Education Department personnel by half through a reduction in force. The agency had grown to more than 4,000 employees, but no report, no federal audit or independent review, has…
