WEBVTT 00:01.200 --> 00:03.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour." 00:03.100 --> 00:05.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% President Donald Trump made good on a pledge today to try to eliminate the 00:05.600 --> 00:10.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% federal Department of Education, which was created more than four decades ago. 00:10.133 --> 00:14.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GEOFF BENNETT: That department has been a target of critics for nearly as long as it's existed, 00:14.433 --> 00:18.466 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% but President Trump and other Republicans want to go all the way this time, 00:18.466 --> 00:22.400 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% calling the department wasteful and arguing it fails too many students. 00:22.400 --> 00:27.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Many educators today argued it's critical and provides key services that states and 00:27.200 --> 00:32.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% localities cannot. President Trump today signed an 00:32.100 --> 00:35.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% executive order aimed at shutting down the Department of Education. 00:35.933 --> 00:37.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: After 45 years, 00:37.933 --> 00:42.066 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% the United States spends more money on education by far than any other country, 00:43.800 --> 00:47.466 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% and spends likewise by far more money per pupil than any country, 00:49.633 --> 00:53.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and it's not even close. But yet we rank near the bottom of the list in terms of success. 00:54.800 --> 00:56.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% GEOFF BENNETT: But the order might be more of a first step than a final 00:56.733 --> 01:01.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% blow. Congress created the department in 1979, and the Constitution doesn't 01:03.433 --> 01:06.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% give the president the power to shut it down by executive order alone. 01:06.600 --> 01:11.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But technicalities haven't stopped Trump's agenda so far. His goal, he says, 01:13.933 --> 01:16.666 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% return education to the states and have other agencies absorb the department's responsibilities. 01:19.000 --> 01:21.933 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% DONALD TRUMP: But we're going to take care of our teachers, and I believe, I believe the states will 01:21.933 --> 01:26.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% take actually better care of them than they are -- than they are taken care of right now. 01:28.900 --> 01:30.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GEOFF BENNETT: The Education Department is largely responsible for managing federal 01:30.900 --> 01:35.833 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% funding, enforcing civil rights laws and access for students with disabilities, 01:35.833 --> 01:39.433 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% and servicing more than a trillion dollars worth of student loans. 01:39.433 --> 01:42.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DONALD TRUMP: If you look at the Pell Grants, supposed to be a very good program, 01:42.566 --> 01:47.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Title I funding and resources for children with special disabilities and special needs, 01:49.266 --> 01:53.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% they're going to be preserved in full and redistributed to 01:53.533 --> 01:58.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them. 02:00.600 --> 02:02.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GEOFF BENNETT: Even if some of that work shifts to other departments and agencies, 02:02.500 --> 02:06.000 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% critics say losing the umbrella of the Education Department could mean 02:06.000 --> 02:10.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the work loses its larger mission, ensuring equal access for American 02:10.266 --> 02:14.700 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% students. Democrats have been unified against the Trump administration's plan. 02:14.700 --> 02:16.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): And this is why every 02:16.233 --> 02:21.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% single Democrat said hell no to the nomination of Linda McMahon, 02:23.333 --> 02:26.866 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% one of the only nominees in history tasked with destroying the very agency she's trying to lead. 02:29.166 --> 02:33.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GEOFF BENNETT: States have long held the primary responsibility for education. There 02:33.100 --> 02:38.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% is no national curriculum and federal money makes up about 14 percent of public school 02:39.766 --> 02:42.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% budgets. But that money is critical for the most vulnerable students, 02:42.100 --> 02:46.800 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% like meals for homeless students or Title I funding for low-income schools. 02:46.800 --> 02:49.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): But for the working-class of this country, 02:49.533 --> 02:54.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% high-quality public education is an imperative if their kids are going to do well in life. 02:56.666 --> 02:59.433 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% GEOFF BENNETT: The Trump administration has already downsized the department's work force 02:59.433 --> 03:04.400 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% through terminations and buyouts. Firings last week left the department with roughly half of 03:06.333 --> 03:09.466 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% the 4,100 staff it had when President Trump took office, prompting protests. 03:11.700 --> 03:13.766 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% PORTIA ALLEN-KYLE, Interim Executive Director, Color of Change: I want people to know that 03:13.766 --> 03:15.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% we're fighting. And we may not win today. We may not -- people may not get their 03:15.900 --> 03:19.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% jobs back. There are things going through the courts. But there is momentum. People 03:19.100 --> 03:23.200 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% are upset. People are energized. And people want to see something different. 03:23.200 --> 03:25.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% GEOFF BENNETT: This afternoon, 03:25.233 --> 03:28.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Senator Bill Cassidy, the chair of the Senate committee overseeing education, 03:28.066 --> 03:32.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% said he would introduce legislation to have Congress eliminate the department. 03:32.733 --> 03:35.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We should note we reached out to the Trump White House to request 03:35.500 --> 03:39.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% an interview with an official on this matter, but did not receive a response.