Trump signs order aimed at dismantling US Department of Education

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order intended to essentially dismantle the federal Department of Education, Reuters reports.

The order is designed to leave school policy almost entirely in the hands of states and local boards.

Thursday's order was a first step "to eliminate" the department, Trump said at a signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Shuttering the agency completely requires an act of Congress.

"We're going to be returning education, very simply, back to the states where it belongs," Trump said.

The signing followed the department's announcement last week that it would lay off nearly half of its staff, in step with Trump's sweeping efforts to reduce the size of a federal government he considers to be bloated and inefficient.

In a fact sheet about the order, the White House said “President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order returning power over education to families instead of bureaucracies.”

“The Executive Order directs the Secretary of Education to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely. The Order also directs that programs or activities receiving any remaining Department of Education funds will not advance DEI or gender ideology,” it added.