Mar.13

electoral-vote.com

Dem 47

   

GOP 53

Trump Still Loves the Poorly Educated--and Wants More of Them

Donald Trump once famously said: "We love the poorly educated." Watch:

Pursuant to his love of the poorly educated, he is doing what he can to wreck the American educational system. Then there will be more poorly educated people for him to love. He is probably aware by now that when he lies to poorly educated people, they are more likely to believe him than are highly educated people, who are capable of listening to someone and determining that they are full of it.

Specifically, Trump has ordered Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to fire half the people in her department, which will make it unable to function, of course. She seemed enthusiastic about her task and said: "Today's reduction in force reflects the Department of Education's commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers."

Workers were fired by e-mail sent after 6 p.m. Tuesday. They will remain on the payroll for 90 days and will get some severance pay after that, depending on how long they have been with the DoEd. The building was locked yesterday but is scheduled to be opened today so former employees can collect their belongings and then leave.

McMahon later said that firing half the staff is only the first step. The next step will be firing the other half and closing down the department altogether. She said that would eliminate bureaucratic bloat. One piece of "bloat" that was especially hard hit is the Civil Rights Division, the office that investigates racial discrimination in the educational system. Not specifically targeted (yet) is the office that administers Pell grants and other aid to poor students, but with fewer workers, it will obviously function slower and less well for the rest of its short life. Legally, only Congress can eliminate a department Congress created, but that doesn't seem to bother Trump or McMahon.

It is perhaps worth noting that Project 2025 called for the elimination of the DoEd. During the campaign, Trump claimed not to know what was in its report, but he sure figured it out fast. He is clearly a quick study.

Many people outside the DoEd are worried that with half the staff gone it will not be able to carry out the tasks that Congress has mandated it must carry out. Here are some of the main duties of the Department:

• Manage special programs established by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
• Enforce equal access to education by enforcing civil rights legislation.
• Manage Pell grants and other grants and loans for 12 million students.
• Support states, localities and public and private institutions.
• Promote improvements in education through research, evaluation, and the sharing of information.
• Improve the management and efficiency of federal education activities.
• Increase the accountability of federal education programs to the President, Congress, and the public.
• Encourage the public to be involved in federal education programs.
• Improve the coordination of federal education programs.

These are not easy things to do with full staffing; with half staffing (or less), some of these tasks will have to fall by the wayside. (V)