成人X站

President Donald Trump has said he wants his new education chief,聽, to 鈥減ut herself out of a job鈥� and close the Education Department.

McMahon was聽聽on Monday, and an executive order to shutter the department could come as soon as this week. McMahon told employees it was the department鈥檚 鈥渇inal mission鈥� to eliminate bureaucratic bloat and turn over the agency鈥檚 authority to states.

聽altogether would be a cumbersome task, which likely would require an act of Congress.

Sen. Patty Murray speaks on her experience in education

Trump’s move does not sit well with Washington U.S. Senator Patty Murray, who began her political career as an elected member of a school board in King County.

“I first got into politics many years ago to save an education program,” she said. “I was told I couldn’t make a difference because I was just a mom in tennis shoes. Well, here’s the thing, there are a heck a lot of moms and dads in tennis shoes out there and they do not play when it comes to their kids’ future. I saved that program back then by getting moms and dads to join with me, speak up and say, ‘Wait, our kids come first,’ and we’re going to fight for our students, for our teachers and the schools the same way by getting moms and dads and students to to speak up, by making clear, this is not some program you play politics with.

“This is about our kids, and we will not let anyone, not if they are the president, not if they’re the richest man in the world, put our kids’ future on the chopping block,” she continued.

More from MyNorthwest: Guns could soon be banned from more public places in Washington

Trump administration cuts off federal funding

Already, the Trump administration has started overhauling much of the department鈥檚 work.

Trump adviser Elon Musk鈥檚 Department of Government Efficiency has cut聽聽it dismissed as 鈥渨oke鈥� and wasteful. It gutted the Institute of Education Sciences, which gathers data on the nation鈥檚 academic progress, and the administration has聽聽scores of employees.

The agency鈥檚 main role is financial. Annually, it distributes billions in federal money to colleges and schools and manages the federal student loan portfolio. Closing the department would mean redistributing each of those duties to another agency. The Education Department also plays an important regulatory role in services for students, ranging from those with聽聽to low-income and homeless kids.

Indeed, federal education money is central to Trump鈥檚 plans for colleges and schools. Trump has vowed to聽聽for schools and colleges that push 鈥渃ritical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content鈥� and to reward states and schools that end teacher tenure and support universal聽.

Federal funding makes up a relatively small portion of public school budgets 鈥� roughly 14%. Colleges and universities are more reliant on it, through research grants along with federal financial aid that helps students pay their tuition.

Here is a look at some of the department鈥檚 key functions, and how Trump has said he might approach them.

Student loans and financial aid

The Education Department manages approximately $1.5 trillion in student loan debt for over 40 million borrowers. It also oversees the Pell Grant, which provides aid to students below a certain income threshold, and administers the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (聽聽), which universities use to allocate financial aid.

President Joe Biden鈥檚 administration made cancellation of student loans a signature effort of the department鈥檚 work. Even though Biden鈥檚 initial attempt to cancel student loans was聽, the administration聽聽over $175 billion for more than 4.8 million borrowers through a range of changes to programs it administers, such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

The loan forgiveness efforts have faced Republican pushback, including litigation from several GOP-led states.

Trump has聽聽Biden鈥檚 efforts to cancel debt as illegal and unfair, calling it a 鈥渢otal catastrophe鈥� that 鈥渢aunted young people.鈥� Trump鈥檚 plan for student debt is uncertain: He has not put out detailed plans.

More from MyNorthwest: WA lawmakers help House censure Texas Rep. Al Green for Trump address outburst

Civil rights enforcement

Through its Office for Civil Rights, the Education Department conducts investigations and issues guidance on how civil rights laws should be applied, such as for LGBTQ+ students and students of color. The office also oversees a large data collection project that tracks disparities in resources, course access and聽聽for students of different racial and socioeconomic groups.

Trump has suggested a different interpretation of the office鈥檚 civil rights role. Under his administration, the department has instructed the office to prioritize complaints of聽聽above all else and has opened investigations into colleges and school sports leagues for allowing transgender athletes to聽.

In his campaign platform, Trump said he would pursue civil rights cases to 鈥渟top schools from discriminating on the basis of race.鈥� He has described diversity and equity policies in education as 鈥渆xplicit unlawful discrimination鈥� and said colleges that use them will pay fines and have their endowments taxed.

Trump also has pledged to exclude聽聽from Title IX protections, which affect school policies on students鈥� use of pronouns, bathrooms and locker rooms. Originally passed in 1972, Title IX was first used as a women鈥檚 rights law. Last year, Biden鈥檚 administration said the law forbids discrimination based on聽, but a federal judge undid those protections.

College accreditation

While the Education Department does not directly accredit colleges and universities, it oversees the system by reviewing all federally recognized accrediting agencies. Institutions of higher education must be accredited to gain access to federal money for student financial aid.

Accreditation came under scrutiny from conservatives in 2022, when the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools questioned political interference at聽聽and universities. Trump has said he would fire 鈥渞adical left accreditors鈥� and take applications for new accreditors that would uphold standards including 鈥渄efending the American tradition鈥� and removing 鈥淢arxist鈥� diversity administrators.

Although the education secretary has the authority to terminate its relationship with individual accrediting agencies, it is an arduous process that has rarely been pursued. Under President Barack Obama, the department took steps to cancel accreditors for a now-defunct for-profit college chain, but the Trump administration blocked the move. The group, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, was terminated by the Biden administration in 2022.

Money for schools

Much of the Education Department鈥檚 money for K-12 schools goes through large federal programs, such as Title I for low-income schools and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Those programs support services for students with disabilities, lower class sizes with additional teaching positions, and pay for social workers and other non-teaching roles in schools.

During his campaign, Trump called for shifting those functions to the states. He has not offered details on how the agency鈥檚 core functions of sending federal money to local districts and schools would be handled.

The Heritage Foundation鈥檚聽, a sweeping proposal outlining a far-right vision for the country, offered a blueprint. It suggested sending oversight of programs for kids with disabilities and low-income children first to the Department of Health and Human Services, before eventually phasing out the funding and converting it to no-strings-attached grants to states.

Contributing: The Associated Press; Aaron Granillo and Heather Bosch, 成人X站 Newsradio; Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest