The Republican administration has taken a new step to dissolve the Department of Education and return control to the states
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President Donald Trump's administration announced on Tuesday a decisive step in its strategy to substantially reduce federal bureaucracy in education and move toward closing the Department of Education.
According to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, the agency signed a series of six interagency agreements (IAA) that transfer key responsibilities to other federal departments, thus fulfilling Trump's promise to return education to the states.
McMahon stated that these agreements are part of a deep restructuring aimed at "breaking federal educational bureaucracy" and allowing states and local communities to regain the authority that, according to the administration, was taken from them during decades of centralization in Washington.
In her statement, the secretary emphasized that the government is "cutting layers of paperwork" and promoting a model in which educational programs are managed "as close as possible to families and students."
La secretaria de Educación anunció la firma de una serie de convenios para devolver el poder educativo a los estados
The signed agreements involve the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of the Interior, and the Department of State, which will assume a greater or shared role in programs that until now were administered almost exclusively by the federal education agency.
An official from the Department of Education highlighted that this type of agreement has precedents in different administrations, including the Biden administration, but stressed that this time the scale of the transfer is significantly broader.
Among the most relevant changes is the creation of a primary and secondary education partnership under the Department of Labor, aimed at "empowering parents and states, promoting innovation, and improving programs."
Funcionarios del Departamento de Educación señalaron que este tipo de acuerdos fueron utilizados en el pasado, pero el mayor avance ha sido por parte de la administración Trump
Additionally, this department will take on a growing role in the management of higher education grants, a central area within the structure of the Department of Education.
The Department of the Interior will take on an expanded role in the Indigenous Education program, while HHS signed agreements to handle matters related to the accreditation of foreign medical programs and to coordinate a new assistance program for daycare centers on university campuses aimed at students who are parents. Meanwhile, the Department of State will collaborate in the oversight of foreign language and international education programs.
Department officials described these transfers as a necessary modernization that will allow the administrative expertise of other agencies to be leveraged and reduce decades of bureaucratic accumulation.
El presidente Trump firmó un decreto en marzo brindándole la autoridad a McMahon para facilitar el cierre del departamento
The announcement is directly linked to the executive order Trump signed in March, instructing McMahon to "take all necessary steps" to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education, an agency created in 1979 that only Congress can formally dissolve. Although total elimination will require legislation, the administration has made it clear that it will continue to reduce its size by reassigning functions.
The White House reiterated this position after the announcement. Spokesperson Liz Huston stated that Trump "is fulfilling his campaign promise" and that the restructuring demonstrates the government's commitment to "what is best for American students." Huston added that the recent federal shutdown, which lasted 43 days, showed that "educational bureaucracy in Washington is not necessary for schools to function."
