WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration is further dismantling the Education Department, moving oversight of special education and civil rights to other agencies.
The Department of Justice will take on enforcement of civil rights in education, while the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education. The Trump administration made the announcement on Tuesday.
The Department of Justice will also take over work protecting student privacy and will provide some training and advisory help to schools.
Trump, a Republican, campaigned on shutting down the Education Department, saying he would “move education back to the states where it belongs.” While only Congress can close the department, Trump’s education secretary, Linda McMahon, a billionaire and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, has formed agreements with other federal agencies to handle much of her department’s work.
McMahon said the agreements align federal responsibilities with the agencies best positioned to support them.
“The Trump Administration has been clear: as we scale back federal micromanagement when it hinders success, we are equally committed to bolstering the efficacy of federal oversight where it is essential,” McMahon said in a written statement.
The Education Department already has offloaded some of its programs through 10 earlier internal agreements, but the agencies involved in Tuesday’s announcement — the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and the Office for Civil Rights — were among the most closely watched.