White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to reports that President Donald Trump is planning to use executive actions to dismantle the Department of Education during an interview on FOX Business, Tuesday.
“President Trump campaigned on that promise, and I think the American people can expect him to deliver on it,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Stuart Varney on “Varney & Co.” in response to a question on whether she can confirm Trump’s plan.
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Leavitt expanded, stating that it “goes back to his wanting to make this government accountable to the American taxpayer.”
“When you look at the literacy rates, the math and the reading rates of young children and students in America, they are not good. Our nation’s report card was released last week, and it showed that only 40% of fourth graders are reading at a proficient level. So clearly, the tens of millions of dollars that the Department of Education is spending every single year is not working. And President Trump wants to empower parents to have a greater say in their child’s education system,” she continued.
Officials reportedly discussed an executive order that would shut down the functions not written into the statute of the department, or move certain functions to other agencies.
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As the president starts to take action on education, a White House official confirmed to Fox that Trump plans to reevaluate the future of the Education Department throughout his presidency.
Last Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on education, one to remove federal funding from K-12 schools that teach critical race theory (CRT), and another to support school choice.
The executive order states that any K-12 school that does not comply with the directive to end discrimination will lose all federal funding, citing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination over race, color, and national origin for any activity or program receiving federal funding.
According to Leavitt, closing down the Department of Education could be next on Trump’s agenda.
Fox News’ Rachel Del Guidice contributed to this report.
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