On 14 July, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling that effectively allows the Donald Trump administration to continue the process of dismantling the federal Department of Education. This was one of the US president’s campaign promises.
According to Reuters, the Supreme Court overturned a lower federal court ruling that had previously blocked Trump’s decision to transfer key Education Department functions to other federal agencies, and ordered the reinstatement of employees hit by mass layoffs. The Supreme Court vote was split six to three, with conservative justices supporting the administration’s position and liberal justices supporting its opponents.
The actions of the Trump administration were challenged by prosecutors from 21 states representing the Democratic Party, as well as unions and representatives of school boards.
The U.S. Department of Education was created in 1979. Unlike many countries, it is not directly responsible for educational programmes, but primarily performs administrative functions. It has the authority to redistribute federal funds to poorer school districts and provide aid to students and pupils. Trump and his supporters believe that the department is inefficiently spending funds and therefore its functions have been transferred to the state level. On 20 March, Trump signed an executive order to reduce the Department of Education’s functions as much as possible. It is impossible to disband it entirely by decree, for this it is necessary to make amendments to the legislation.