Trump signs executive order to ‘eliminate’ US Education Department

Flanked by pupils and teachers, US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order intended to essentially dismantle the federal Department of Education, making good on a long-standing campaign promise to conservatives.

The order would leave school policy almost entirely in the hands of states and local boards, a prospect that alarms liberal education advocates.

The order will “begin to eliminate” the department, Trump said at a signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Closing the department completely requires an act of Congress, and Trump lacks the votes for that.

“We’re going to be returning education, very simply, back to the states where it belongs,” Trump said.

The order follows the department’s announcement last week that it would lay off nearly half of its staff. It is the latest step by Trump, who has been in office some two months, to reshape the US government and upend the federal bureaucracy.

Education has long been a political lighting rod in the United States, with conservatives favouring school choice policies that help private schools and left-leaning voters largely supporting programmes and funding for public schools.