Trump signs order to dismantle US Department of Education

US President Donald Trump signed a new executive order Thursday to dismantle the Department of Education, the latest federal agency that he has sought to eliminate as he seeks to fulfil a long-term goal of conservative groups.

Trump has claimed that the agency is wasteful, suggesting its funding would be better spent by individual states. He repeated the allegations Thursday when he said the US “spends more money on education by far than any other country, and spends, likewise, by far, more money per pupil than any country, and it's not even close.”

"We're going to be returning education, very simply, back to the states where it belongs. And this is a popular thing to do, but much more importantly, it's a common-sense thing to do, and it's going to work. Absolutely, it's going to work," he said during a White House ceremony in the East Room.

"People have wanted to do this for many, many years, for many, many decades, and I don't know, no president ever got around to doing it, but I'm getting around to doing it," he added.

All federal agencies are created by Congress and can only be eliminated via acts from the federal legislature. Trump appeared to acknowledge the fact when he said his order would "begin eliminating the federal Department of Education once and for all."

Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, said Trump's order is "political theater, not serious public policy" as he called on lawmakers "to reject misleading rhetoric in favor of what is in the best interests of students and their families." The Trump administration's efforts to whittle down the department as it seeks to impose sweeping cuts across the federal bureaucracy have already created "significant harm" to students and taxpayers, he said.

"The Department of Education is responsible for many critical functions, such as ensuring that student financial aid programs provide millions of low- and middle-income students access to postsecondary education, overseeing crucial Title I funding that supports elementary and secondary school students from low-income families, and carrying out the vital work of the Office for Civil Rights across all education sectors," he said.

"The administration and Congress should focus on improving on the important work that the department performs that benefits ordinary Americans, not unilateral and thoughtless cuts to the department's workforce and ability to serve Americans," he added.

Trump said the Education Department's "useful functions," including the administration of grants to help students pay for college, known as Pell grants, funding for children with disabilities and special needs, as well as funding for low-income school districts will be “fully preserved” and will be “redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them.”

It is unclear to which federal agencies Trump is referring.

A poll released by Quinnipiac University last Thursday found that roughly 60% of American voters disapprove of Trump's plan to eliminate the department. That includes nearly all -- 98% -- Democrats, and 64% of Independents. Roughly 20% of Republicans oppose the proposal.