Trump has ordered the dismantling of the US Education Department. Here's what that means

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Trump has ordered the dismantling of the US Education Department. Here's what that means

2025-03-22 01:48 Last Updated At：02:01

President Donald Trump’s order calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Education Department has complex implications.

The Republican president has argued the federal office hasn’t improved student outcomes and is unnecessary in a country where states and local districts primarily control education from funding to hiring and curriculum.

For decades, right-wing activists have called for eliminating the agency, which was created by Congress in 1979. As Trump remakes the federal government, he has assailed the department as wasteful and responsible for spreading “woke” ideas such as programs to support diversity, equity and inclusion and protections for transgender students.

The department has been largely responsible for oversight, enforcing discrimination laws and distributing aid money for schools with low-income students and students with disabilities. Federal funding makes up a relatively small portion of public school budgets, roughly 14%.

In the short term, students, teachers and parents likely won’t see much impact. Long term, it’s harder to predict.

It depends how Education Secretary Linda McMahon distributes the mandated functions of the department to other parts of government, including the states.

The biggest question is how the states will distribute the federal money the department sends to help educate students who are poor, disabled or still learning English and need extra support. School systems with weak property tax bases, including those in rural areas, depend on that money to pay teachers, pay for buses and buy classroom technology.

States such as Mississippi and Alaska depend on this money to fund more than 20% of school districts’ costs. Advocates worry that without federal oversight, state leaders could spend the money on anything they want, including vouchers to attend private school.

Cuts the Trump administration has made already to the Education Department have eliminated hundreds of staff members and contracts dedicated to maintaining the Free Application for Student Aid, or FAFSA, website and helping users navigate the complicated form. But McMahon has said the federal programs will be maintained.

On Friday, Trump said the Small Business Administration would take over the $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio. Conservatives, including former Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, have talked about setting up a quasi-private bank to administer loans.

Users should expect some hiccups. The StudentAid.gov website was down for several hours last week as the remaining department staff tried to troubleshoot an outage.

School meal programs are funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture so they are not affected by Trump’s move to eliminate the Education Department. However, the USDA has cut a $1 billion coronavirus pandemic-era measure that helped schools and food banks to buy local farm-fresh food.

States and other organizations are vowing to bring lawsuits to halt the dismantling of the department, which could slow things down.

Eliminating the department entirely would require an act of Congress. Republicans in Congress are planning legislation to eliminate the agency, but they face heavy opposition from Democrats.

In the meantime, Trump still has plans for the department. Even as he ordered its closure, Trump has tasked the department with rooting out and punishing schools that have diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Purdue ends McNeese's March Madness run 76-62 to get back to Sweet 16

2025-03-23 05:23 Last Updated At：05:30

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Trey Kaufman-Renn had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and Purdue used a fast start to roll to a 76-62 win over McNeese in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

Fletcher Loyer added 15 points. C.J. Cox finished with 11 points for the Boilermakers (24-11), who advanced through the Midwest Region to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season.

Purdue will meet the winner of top-seeded Houston and eighth-seeded Gonzaga in the regional semifinal. In his 16 NCAA Tournament appearances with the Boilermakers, coach Matt Painter is now headed to his eighth Sweet 16.

Painter said the challenge is to sustain the offensive output they've had over the first two rounds.

“We can’t go further without playing great offensively,” Painter said. “We have to execute well, we have to shoot the ball well. That’s not really pressure, that’s just a fact.”

Sincere Parker had 17 points to lead McNeese (28-7). Javohn Garcia added 12 points as the Cowboys came up short in their bid to give the Southland Conference its first Sweet 16 team since Louisiana Tech in 1985.

McNeese came out in the 2-3 zone that was so successful during its first-round win over Clemson.

But Purdue hit 7 of its first 9 field goals and 3 of its first 4 3-point attempts to build an early double-digit advantage. A pair of three-plus minute scoring droughts by the Cowboys and runs of 10-0 and 9-0 by the Boilermakers helped Purdue grow its lead as high as 36-14 in the first half.

“From the start of the game they kind of imposed their will on us," Parker said. "To their credit they made shots and we missed shots.”

The Boilermakers led for all but 19 seconds.

Purdue shot 11 of 26 from the 3-point line for the game and held a 41-24 rebounding edge.

“I thought we played really well these last two games,” Kaufman-Renn said. “We executed well and we stuck to our game plan and then we outrebounded both teams. So we do that, it’s a winning game plan.”

McNeese: Poor shooting prevented the Cowboys from duplicating their first-round magic.

Purdue: A year after making it to the national title game, the Boilermakers are getting some of their best production from Braden Smith and Kaufman-Renn, who both started in that game.

McNeese coach Will Wade declined to confirm whether he had accepted the coaching job at N.C. State, but a source told The Associated Press a deal had been reached. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the school hasn’t publicly discussed its coaching search.

Wade said he'd spend Saturday celebrating what McNeese accomplished this season.

“I’ll worry about that tomorrow,” Wade said. "Look, I’m an honest guy but today I want to put a bow on everything with McNeese if we can. That’ll be up to whatever else happens."

As good as Purdue was offensively against the Cowboys, the Boilermakers will likely have to lean on their defense in the next round. Gonzaga entered the tournament with Division I’s second-ranked scoring offense. Houston was the nation’s fifth-ranked 3-point shooting team.

AP Basketball Writer Aaron Beard in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

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