The Trump administration has requested that the Supreme Court permit the dismantling of the Education Department.
“Each day this preliminary injunction remains in effect subjects the Executive Branch to judicial micromanagement of its day-to-day operations,” the filing states.
“The government has been crystal clear in acknowledging that only Congress can eliminate the Department of Education. And the government has acknowledged the need to retain sufficient staff to continue fulfilling statutorily mandated functions and has kept the personnel that, in its judgment, are necessary for those tasks,” it adds. “The challenged [reduction in force] is fully consistent with that approach.”
President Trump’s March 20 executive order calling for the closure of the Education Department states that the department has “entrenched the education bureaucracy and sought to convince America that Federal control over education is beneficial.”
“Closing the Department of Education would provide children and their families the opportunity to escape a system that is failing them. Today, American reading and math scores are near historical lows,” it declares. “This year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that 70 percent of 8th graders were below proficient in reading, and 72 percent were below proficient in math. The Federal education bureaucracy is not working.”
In May, U.S. District Judge Myong Joun blocked the department’s dismantling. “For over 150 years, the federal government has played a crucial role in education,” his order said. “The supporting declarations of former Department employees, educational institutions, unions, and educators paint a stark picture of the irreparable harm that will result from financial uncertainty and delay, impeded access to vital knowledge on which students and educators rely, and loss of essential services for America’s most vulnerable student populations.”
