Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton also were in the audience as President Donald Trump signed an executive order to start shutting down the U.S. Department of Education.
By Joseph Morton and Talia Richman
Staff Writers
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott applauded Thursday as he watched President Donald Trump sign an executive order to downsize — and ultimately eliminate — the U.S. Department of Education.
“It’s insanity that we have this massive bureaucracy in the Department of Education, where we’ve been spending countless dollars of American money and not getting results for it,” Abbott told reporters just after the signing ceremony in the East Room concluded. “We will get far better results by having this money go directly to the states.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton were also in the audience, looking on approvingly as Trump signed the order he said would start the process of abolishing the Department of Education “once and for all.”
“It sounds strange doesn’t it? Department of Education. We’re going to eliminate it, and everybody knows it’s right,” Trump said.
The order directs the education secretary — to the maximum extent allowed by law — to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
The order is expected to be challenged in court as the department can only be officially eliminated by Congress. Trump said he hopes Democrats on Capitol Hill will support the move.
Texas AFT President Zeph Capo offered the governor a sharp rebuke for his appearance at the event.
“It makes perfect sense for Gov. Greg Abbott to be on hand for the dismantling of the Department of Education,” he said in a statement. “It has been the only governmental entity holding his administration accountable for guaranteeing parents’ and students’ rights to a free and fair education.”
Federal officials announced earlier this month that the department would lay off all
employees in the Dallas field office. Nearly half the agency’s staff was cut nationwide.
The cuts — locally and nationally — raised questions about what will become
of the department’s fundamental roles such as ensuring students’ access to education, upholding civil rights in schools and managing federal student
loans.
Paige Duggins-Clay, the chief legal analyst of the Intercultural Development
Research Association, a Texas education nonprofit, said families have invested time and energy into telling painful stories about their children’s rights being violated in schools that the Department of Education investigated through its Office for Civil Rights.
Their lives were disrupted, and they trusted the agency to review such complaints
in good faith, she said.
“To suggest that this was done in the name of efficiency is just bad faith,”
she said. “This, unfortunately, seems like a really dangerous pattern of undermining
legacy offices and legacy functions of government to protect civil rights.”
Trump said at the signing that other agencies will take over many of the department’s major responsibilities and that funding will be preserved for Pell
Grants, Title I and children with disabilities and special needs.
Abbott cited Trump’s statements when asked about concerns that eliminating
the department could negatively impact students with disabilities or those facing violations of their civil rights. He downplayed the potential for disruptions to programs that support higher education, such as Pell Grants.
“They truly are dedicated to make sure that all the grant programs that
currently exist will continue to operate flawlessly,” Abbott said, referring to
the Trump administration.
He described Trump’s executive order as the president making good on
campaign promises and said it’s something Texans have wanted to see for a long time.
Abbott touted state legislative initiatives that will improve education in the
state, such as the “school choice” bill that has already passed the state Senate and he said should move out of committee in the House next week.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login