By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, June 16 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration said on Tuesday it was moving some oversight of special education and civil rights enforcement away from the U.S. Education Department as it further dismantled the agency.
Here are some details:
• The Education Department said the Justice Department will handle civil rights enforcement and student privacy protection and the Department of Health and Human Services will handle special education initiatives for students with disabilities.
• Late last year, the Education Department announced new partnerships with other federal departments to share or transfer the functions it performed.
• Trump promised during his 2024 election campaign to dismantle the Education Department, saying he aimed to shrink the federal government’s role in education in favor of more control by the states.
• The Trump administration has gutted staffing at the agency.
• The Education Department’s statement on Tuesday said its latest actions aim to “reduce federal bureaucracy.”
• Trump’s dismantling of the Education Department has been criticized by education advocates while civil rights advocates have been critical of his crackdown on diversity initiatives in the government and private sector.
• Trump has used the Education Department and other federal agencies to launch probes against universities and schools over a range of issues like pro-Palestinian protests against Israel’s assault on Gaza, diversity practices, climate initiatives and transgender policies.
• Civil rights advocates have also condemned Trump’s reshaping of cultural and historical institutions, saying his actions and executive orders are reversing decades of social progress and undermining the acknowledgment of critical phases of American history.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Nia Williams)
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