The U.S. Department of Education building stands in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. U.S. public schools need $200 billion in federal aid to be able to safely open for the fall semester with the coronavirus continuing to circulate w …
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly mentioned "disbanding" and "de-powering" the Department of Education during his campaign. What does that mean?
The Department of Education was originally introduced in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. According to their website, the agency "assists the president in executing his education policies for the nation and in implementing laws enacted by Congress."
During Trump's campaign, he touted school choice as a form of greater parental rights, aimed at countering what conservative critics describe as leftist indoctrination in classrooms and promoting a free-market approach to education.
"One thing I’ll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington, DC, and sending all education and education work it needs back to the states," Trump said in a 2023 video discussing his education policy goals.
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"We want them to run the education of our children because they’ll do a much better job of it. You can’t do worse."
Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos echoed her support, even saying the window of opportunity is "wide open" as he begins to roll out his administration’s agenda ahead of taking office.
"There are many steps that can be taken to re-empower states and local communities, and importantly, families," DeVos told "The Story with Martha MacCallum" on Tuesday.
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"Take the power away from the Department of Education, block-grant those funds, continue to invest in education, but get it down to a much more local level where better decisions are made on behalf of students," DeVos proposed. "The bureaucrats at the Department of Education aren't doing the job. They haven't done the job for more than four decades to close the achievement gaps — they've only widened."
DeVos served as the 11th U.S. Department of Education secretary during the Trump administration from 2017 until 2021.
She also added that the Department of Education "doesn't really add any value anywhere," pointing out that while the federal government contributes 9% of funding for K–12 education nationwide, it imposes over 90% of the regulations.
The Associated Press and FOX News contributed to this report.