Trump signs order dismantling US education department

United States President Donald Trump has signed an order dismantling the country’s education department.

Trump signed the order on Thursday.

Trump was surrounded by young children sitting at their own desks in the White House who simultaneously signed papers in a folder as he signed his.

The US department of education (DOE) administers federal funding appropriated by Congress to public K-12 schools.

In the US, the first stages of formal education begin from kindergarten to grade 12 (K-12), after which a student may choose to attend college or university.

The DOE also manages the federal student loan and financial aid programs.

Two of the biggest funding programs for K-12 schools are the Title I program, which is meant to help educate children from low-income families, and the IDEA program, which provides schools with money to help meet the needs of children with disabilities.

The deparment also distributes about $30 billion a year to low-income college student, engages in federal rulemaking, and investigates discrimination complaints at schools.

Trump’s executive order to dismantle the department sets the process of a full shut down in motion as a total elimination can only be approved by Congress.

The dismantling means funding would either be eliminated or transferred to state governments.

Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, said “critical functions” of the department such will remain, but stressed that “we’re greatly reducing the scale and the size of this department”.

Already, nearly half of the department’s employees have been reportedly notified that they could be laid off.

A number of programs meant to promote diversity and put in place protections for transgender students have also been rolled back.

Trump promised Linda McMahon, the education secretary, that he would find “something else” for her.