WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration is further dismantling the Department of Education, moving oversight of special education and civil rights to other agencies.
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The Department of Justice will take on enforcement of civil rights in education, while the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education. The Trump administration made the announcement on Tuesday.
The Department of Justice also will take over work protecting student privacy and will provide some training and advisory help to schools.
Trump, a Republican, campaigned on shutting down the Education Department, saying he would “move education back to the states where it belongs.” While only Congress can close the department, Trump’s education secretary, Linda McMahon, a billionaire and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, has formed agreements with other federal agencies to handle much of her department’s work.
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The Education Department already has offloaded its programs through 10 earlier agreements with other federal agencies, but the agencies involved in Tuesday’s announcement — the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and the Office for Civil Rights — were among the most closely watched.
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