Education Secretary Linda McMahon has launched a nationwide tour to promote the Trump administration’s goal of dismantling the US Department of Education and shifting control of education policy back to the states. The “Returning Education to the States Tour” begins in Louisiana, a state highlighted for its notable improvements in elementary literacy since before the Covid-19 pandemic.The department currently manages federal student loan programmes, distributes grants to low-income schools, and enforces non-discrimination policies, but does not set curriculum standards. The administration’s plan involves reducing the department’s workforce and handing more responsibility to individual states.Louisiana’s progress as a model for state controlLouisiana is the only state to show improvement in fourth-grade reading scores since 2019, moving from last place nationally to 16th, according to The Nation’s Report Card. Massachusetts remains the top-ranked state but experienced a decline in scores during the same period.McMahon emphasised during her visit that the tour aims to share successful strategies that states can choose to adopt, rather than imposing federal mandates. “These are things that you can choose from. These are things that have been successful in other states. It’s not a mandate,” she said, as reported by the CBS News.She argued that education should be returned to the states to allow for local innovation and creativity. “When states are creative and innovative, you will see the kind of progress that you’ve seen here in Louisiana,” McMahon added, as quoted by the CBS News.Pandemic relief funding and local decision-makingLouisiana received more than $5 billion in Covid-19 pandemic relief funds for education, which supported programmes including teacher training and academic outreach for struggling students. Cade Brumley, Louisiana’s State Superintendent of Education, stated that the state’s use of these funds demonstrated why it supports dismantling the Department of Education. “We were able to use those pandemic dollars around the academic efforts that we knew were best for students in the state of Louisiana and that really worked,” he said, as reported by the CBS News.Brumley added that loosening restrictions on federal funds would allow state legislatures, parents, and communities to better decide how to allocate resources for their children.Legal challenges and funding concernsPresident Trump’s executive order in March initiated the reduction of the department’s workforce by about half. Despite legal challenges, the Supreme Court allowed these cuts to proceed in July.McMahon addressed worries about special education funding, stating, “That is the least worry that anyone should have because Congress appropriates that money and it flows through whichever agency will be distributing it,” as quoted by the CBS News. The department currently manages grants supplementing state funding for over 7.5 million students with disabilities, though it is unclear which agency would take over if the department is abolished.The Department of Education represents less than 4% of the federal budget. Completely dismantling it would require congressional approval, which faces opposition from Democrats concerned about the impact on students reliant on federal aid. The administration’s tour continues to promote state-based education management as an alternative to federal oversight.TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us here.
