“President Trump lives in a fantasy if he thinks closing the Department of Education is a good idea,” said Kaine. “Americans know that the key to achieving the American dream begins with a good education. The Education Department provides critical support for K-12 schools, administers aid to students pursuing higher education and job training programs, allows students with disabilities to access the same education opportunities as other students, and so much more. Closing the Department would harm every student across America, have negative consequences for our country’s economic growth and competitiveness for decades to come, and set America’s students up for failure. There is nothing more important right now to our nation’s success than ensuring students get the high-quality education they need, and I will use every legislative tool at my disposal to ensure this doesn’t happen.”
President Trump said Wednesday he would like to shut down the Education Department as soon as possible.
“I’d like it to be closed immediately,” he told reporters in the Oval Office, describing the agency as “a big con job.”
Trump is reportedly considering issuing an executive order, but he would need buy-ins from Congress and teachers’ unions to fulfill his campaign pledge to do so.