Trump administration takes major step toward dismantling the Education Department

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Education Department is handing off some of its biggest grant programs to other federal agencies as the Trump administration accelerates its plan to shut down the department.

The changes announced Tuesday represent a major step forward for the administration's dismantling of the department, which has mainly involved cutting jobs since President Donald Trump called for its elimination with an executive action in March.

Six new agreements signed by the Education Department will effectively move billions of dollars in grant programs to other agencies. Most notable is one that will put the Department of Labor over some of the largest federal funding streams for K-12 schools, including Title I money for schools serving low-income communities.

Opponents have urged against such a shake-up, saying it could disrupt programs that support some of the nation's most vulnerable student populations.

States rely on Education Department officials for expertise that other agencies might not have, said Angélica Infante-Green, Rhode Island's K-12 education chief.

''People might think it's just funding and giving them the money, but it's not,'' Infante-Green said in an interview. ''It is about how to co-mingle some of the funds to educate a child. So if a child is in special education but is also a multilingual learner and they're in poverty, how do you use that to educate the child holistically?''

Student loans and civil rights enforcement stay at Education for now

''The Trump Administration is taking bold action to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states,'' Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. ''Cutting through layers of red tape in Washington is one essential piece of our final mission.''

The action leaves in place the Education Department's $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio and its funding for students with disabilities, though McMahon has suggested both would be better managed by other federal departments. Also unaffected is the department's Office for Civil Rights, which works with students and families who bring allegations of discrimination.

McMahon and her staff have spent months hammering out the deals, which allow the department to lop off large parts of its footprint without action from Congress. It's being done through formal agreements that agencies often make with one another when their work overlaps.

The Education Department tested the idea in June with a deal that moved adult education programs to Labor. The new agreements take it a step further and lay the groundwork for more.

Grant programs go to other departments including Interior and State

It will effectively outsource the department's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and Office of Postsecondary Education, two of the agency's largest units. Two major roles of the postsecondary office will remain with the Education Department: oversight of student loan policy and the accreditation of colleges for eligibility to receive students' federal financial aid.

Another deal will put Health and Human Services in charge of a grant program for parents who are attending college, along with management of foreign medical school accreditation. The State Department will take on foreign language programs. Interior will oversee programs for Native American education.

A union representing department workers said students, educators and families depend on the agency's support for schools.

''That national mission is weakened when its core functions are scattered across other federal or state agencies that are not equipped or positioned to provide the same support and services as ED staff,'' AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman said.

McMahon has campaigned for shuttering the department

Her vision would abolish the Education Department and give states wider flexibility in how they spend money that's now earmarked for specific purposes, including literacy and education for homeless students. That, however, would require approval from Congress. The task is complicated by the fact that some of the department's core work has long had bipartisan support.

The new deals are part of a broader plan to prove that America's schools and colleges can operate without the department. As part of the plan, officials say McMahon will continue touring the country to highlight the successes of local schools — and she will also spend more time making her pitch to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

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