Education Secretary Linda McMahon said Sunday that the push to dismantle the Department of Education will not disrupt services for students with disabilities and will provide states with more flexibility to educate students.
Ms. McMahon said the Trump administration is considering turning Title I funding for low-income students into no-strings-attached block grants to the states. Still, she said that the proposal would not impact the funding provided through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
“That is not going to be block-granted in with Title I money,” Ms. McMahon said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “They would clearly have that responsibility to make sure that money does get to those students.”
She said she would “like to see more funding go to the states” for students with special needs.
On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order directing Ms. McMahon to start dismantling the Department of Education, which was established in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter.
Mr. Trump has announced that the student loan program administration will be shifted to the Small Business Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee the special needs program.
“There will not be any defunding of those programs,” Ms. McMahon said Sunday. “We are looking at putting things in different departments where they can operate very effectively as we look at how we can shut down the Department of Education.”
Ms. McMahon said the administration wants to spend the education funding wisely and give states the “opportunity to be innovative and creative with their teaching.”
“A lot of the funding that goes into states now goes with a lot of red tape, a lot of strings attached to it,” she said. “What we need to do is make sure that the funding has a clear path, the funding continues, but the states are allowed to spend the money where they need to spend it: to hire teachers, to increase their salaries, make sure that our students with special needs are taken care of.”
Ms. McMahon said that Mr.Trump is focused on providing equal access to quality education and, as a result, wants to expand school choice.
Mr. Trump has said he wants education to return to the states, allowing state and local officials and parents to have a more significant say in their children’s education.
Mr. Trump will need congressional approval to abolish the department entirely. That will be an uphill battle in the Senate, where any such proposal would require some Democrat support.
“President Trump has said he will move things in accordance with the law and in cooperation with Congress,” Ms. McMahon said.
