President Donald Trump's executive order today to dismantle the federal Department of Education may not be possible without congressional approval, according to Ezekiel Kimball, education policy expert and interim dean at the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development.
"The complication here is it would take an act of Congress to actually close the Department of Education, and there are a number of really high profile Department of Education activities that, by federal statute, are supposed to be administered by the Department of Education," Kimball said.
Today's executive order is premised on returning authority to the States.
Kimball said deferring more money and control to the states would align with Maine's educational values.
"The kind of core value espoused by the Trump administration has been to let these decisions be made as close to where students are being educated as possible, and if that is implemented, that that will align with that, that kind of Maine ethos of local control and education," Kimball said.
In a statement, Senator Angus King said that in addition to harming our schools, the decision also damages the Constitutional system of government.
"This attempt to unilaterally dismantle the DOE without consulting or engaging Congress is grossly unconstitutional and violates the checks and balances of our American system of government," King said.
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said the president's action is an attack on kids, parents and the idea of public education.
In a statement, she said the elimination of the department would have devastating consequences here in Maine where schools receive more than $250 million a year through the Department, including $61 million for disadvantaged districts; $72 million for students with disabilities; $6.5 million for before- and after-school programs; $30 million for workforce development initiatives; and $75 million for Pell grants. All of that she said, is in jeopardy now.
Portland Public schools Superintendent Ryan Scallon said, he is budgeting for a small decrease from Washington but the loss of all the districts federal funding would be "catastrophic."
Kimball said it will likely take weeks to see how the changes at the Department of Education will affect Maine schools.
