Education Dept. should be made efficient, not dismantled: Union president

(NewsNation) — Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, warned that dismantling the Department of Education could have severe consequences for students across the nation, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the department, vowing to return control to states and local communities. The Trump administration argues the current system has failed students, citing stagnant math and reading scores since the department’s creation in 1979, despite rising education spending.

Weingarten said that while the department under former President Joe Biden's administration "did not do a good job," the agency shouldn't be dismantled but rather made efficient.

"My union actually didn't want the Department of Education in the first place. We thought it should stay as HEW (Health, Education, and Welfare) but now that we have it, we can't throw the baby out with the bath water," Weingarten said Sunday on "NewsNation Prime."

Weingarten said that federal education dollars, which she described as "one out of every $9 that kids get," support essential services including special education, after-school programs and resources for rural schools.

"We don't know what's going to happen with $100 billion that the Federal Department of Education is now charged with getting out to the states," Weingarten said. "That funding funds huge opportunity gaps in states."

Former Democratic Rep. Jason Altmire, now CEO of Career Education Colleges and Universities, agreed "there's been huge inefficiency in the Department of Education."

Altmire, who previously served on the congressional education committee said "there's a legitimate policy argument to be had whether or not the states should have more control over K through 12."

Altmire noted that while only Congress can eliminate the department, the debate centers on whether decision-making should rest with those "closest to the decision making at the state and certainly at the school board level."

Despite the administration's arguments that education spending has increased without corresponding improvements in test scores, public opinion appears skeptical of the proposal.

A Fox News poll showed 65% of respondents opposed shutting down the agency, with only 32% in favor.

Weingarten argued the public opposition stems from understanding that federal education funding fills critical gaps that states and localities cannot.

"Nobody wants bureaucracy. We want it to be more efficient, but we don't want to lose that money," she said. "We don't want poor kids to lose it. We don't want rural kids to lose it."

Defenders of the Department of Education are turning to the courts to save it and on Friday, Trump said he would move some of its most critical loan programs to the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Trump cannot abolish the department without an act of Congress, and it is not clear that legislation doing so could get through Congress.

NewsNation partner The Hill contributed to this report.

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