Trump Moves to Dismantle Federal Education Bureaucracy

President Donald Trump is making good on one of his boldest promises: to dismantle the bloated federal education bureaucracy and return real power to the states. On Tuesday, the Trump administration unveiled a sweeping plan to begin breaking up the Department of Education, redirecting key responsibilities to other federal agencies and setting the stage for a complete rethinking of how education is governed in America.

In partnership with the Departments of Labor, State, Interior, and Health and Human Services, the plan shifts authority for dozens of federally required education programs, including those focused on K-12 and higher education. The goal is simple reduce centralized control in Washington and restore authority to local communities and state governments.

“The Trump Administration is taking bold action to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Cutting through layers of red tape in Washington is one essential piece of our final mission.”

The reforms will include:

• Shifting elementary, secondary, and postsecondary program oversight to the Department of Labor

• Moving Indian Education initiatives under the Department of the Interior

• Placing student-parent childcare and foreign medical accreditation under HHS

• Creating a new international education partnership with the State Department

This marks a monumental move toward decentralization and efficiency two things the current education system sorely lacks. For decades, the Department of Education has ballooned into a bureaucratic nightmare with little measurable success. Since its creation in 1979, student outcomes have stagnated or declined, despite the federal education budget soaring past $80 billion annually.

Trump’s plan is both popular and practical. “We’re going to be returning education, very simply, back to the states where it belongs,” he said earlier this year. “It’s a common-sense thing to do, and it’s going to work.”

Of course, the left is throwing a fit. The National Education Association a union that acts more like a Democrat fundraising arm than a voice for teachers called the plan “cruel” and “shameful.” That’s no surprise, given that a return to state-led education would threaten the NEA’s political influence and its grip on public schools.

The truth is that this shift is long overdue. Education should serve students and families not bureaucrats, union bosses, or federal agencies pushing ideological agendas. Just look at the results: America ranks below 20th globally in math and reading, even as parents are forced to fight for basic rights like school choice and curriculum transparency.

With this plan, Trump isn’t just talking about reform he’s taking action to deliver it. Empowering states and local leaders is the only path to restoring academic excellence and freeing the education system from the political rot that has infected it for far too long.

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