The long-anticipated assault on the Department of Education is now beginning.

President Trump and his allies have long wanted to minimize or destroy the Department of Education, as well as broader public education systems in the United States. Educational institutions and issues represent a major battleground in today’s Culture Wars.

The Washington Post reports that “President Donald Trump is preparing an executive order aimed at eventually closing the Education Department and, in the short term, dismantling it from within, according to three people briefed on its contents.”

“The draft order acknowledges that only Congress can shut down the department and instead directs the agency to begin to diminish itself, these people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about internal issues,” according to the Washington Post. “That work is underway already. The new administration has been trying to reduce the workforce by putting scores of employees on administrative leave and pressuring staff to voluntarily quit.”

Many universities, state agencies, education advocacy organizations, parents’ groups, and students’ groups are mobilizing to oppose the cuts to the Department of Education.

The Washington Post indicates that “already, the National Student Legal Defense Network, an advocacy group, is exploring legal challenges to any effort to dismantle the agency. ‘Effectively shutting down the Department of Education through Executive Order or mass firings is a recipe for chaos that will disrupt the lives of students across the country,’ said Aaron Ament, a former Obama administration official who is president of the group. ‘Trying to do so without Congress is not only short-sighted but illegal and unconstitutional.'”

President Trump is aggressively acting to fulfill a long-held dream of many Republican party leaders. The Washington Post emphasizes that “Closing the department has been an off-and-on Republican goal since it was created in 1979. During his campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to ‘return’ responsibility for education to the states, a misleading sentiment echoed by many other GOP candidates. (States and school districts, not the federal government, operate public schools.)”

Anyone with a family member who attends public schools or universities should follow these developments closely. Similarly, anyone who aims to use federal student loans or Pell Grants to pay for college will be directly affected by any changes to the Department of Education’s management of those programs.

The assault on the Department of Education seems likely to have ripple effects on research funding, curricular programs, diversity programs, and academic freedom at universities and public school systems across the United States.

The Washington Post and Politico report on the Trump administration’s assault on the Department of Education.