US President Trump signs order to eliminate the Department of Education
US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. After signing, Trump said that America has not been providing good education to students for a long time.
He said that America spends the most on education compared to any country, but when it comes to success, the country is at the bottom of the list. The Department of Education failed to improve. Now it will end forever.
However, the order said that important programs like grants and funding for disabled children will continue. These programs will be handed over to other agencies. Trump praised American teachers during the speech and said that they will be taken care of.
Education Department’s budget is Rs 20 lakh crore
Trump said that the Department of Education is not a bank. Any other responsible institution will do such work. From now on, the Department of Education will not have authority over it, but the states and local communities will get the responsibility.
In the year 2024, the budget of the Department of Education was $ 238 billion (Rs 20.05 lakh crore). This is about 2% of the country’s total budget. The department has about 4,400 employees. This is the least compared to all other departments.
After Trump signed the order, the Education Department issued a statement and called it historic. The department said – We will follow the law. Together with Parliament and the states, we will end the bureaucracy. This decision will free the future generations of American students and they will be able to get better education.
At the same time, Ted Mitchell, President of the American Council on Education, has condemned Trump’s move. He termed it a ‘political drama’ and said that this decision will reduce funding, which will lead to a reduction in the number of employees in the department. This will harm higher education in the country.
Why is it difficult to close the Department of Education?
Experts believe that it is difficult to close the Department of Education after Trump’s order. In fact, 60 votes will be needed in the US Senate (upper house of Parliament) to close it, but Trump’s Republicans have only 53 seats here. Trump needs the votes of 7 Democratic MPs, which is a politically impossible task.
Last year also, there was an attempt to abolish the Department of Education. It was added as an amendment to another bill, but it could not be passed because all the Democrats in the House along with 60 Republicans also voted against it.
More than 2.5 trillion dollars spent in 45 years
The Department of Education was established by the US Congress (Parliament) in 1979 as a cabinet level agency. This department has the responsibility of a funding program of $ 268 billion. It oversees programs like loans and special education for students. Along with this, it also gives loans to low-income schools.
According to White House data, the department has failed to improve education despite heavy expenditure in the last 40 years. Since 1979, the US Department of Education has spent more than $2.5 trillion (about Rs 259 lakh crore) dollars.
Despite this, the math and reading scores of 13-year-olds are at an all-time low. 6 out of 10 fourth-grade students and about three-fourths of eighth-grade students are unable to do maths properly. 7 out of 10 fourth-grade and eighth-grade students are unable to read properly, while 40% of fourth-grade students are unable to meet even the basic reading level.
