Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced late last month that the Department of Education (DOE) will be outsourcing several of its functions to other agencies in an effort to “break up federal bureaucracy,” sparking the ire of congressional opponents.
On Friday, Sen. Angus King (I-ME) joined a number of his Democratic colleagues in sending a letter to the Secretary criticizing this move, alleging that the Department’s new interagency agreements (IAAs) are illegal.
The scathing letter opens by accusing the Department of jeopardizing critical funding nationwide by attempting to “dismantle” the DOE.
Its authors go on to urge the Administration to keep the Department intact as it is “the only federal agency whose sole mission is to help children learn and improve their educational outcomes.”
The lawmakers then lay out why they believe the DOE’s IAAs are illegal, pointing toward appropriations law, which they say “prohibits the transfer of funds to another federal agency unless expressly authorized in appropriations law, which it has not done in this case.”
A press release from the DOE characterizes the IAAs as a means by which to “streamline federal education activities on the legally required programs, reduce administrative burdens, and refocus programs and activities to better serve students and grantees.”
This undertaking by the DOE involved partnering with the Department of Labor (DOL), Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to “leverag[e] partner agencies’ administrative expertise and experience working with relevant stakeholders.”
“The Trump Administration is taking bold action to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states,” said Secretary McMahon at the time.
“Cutting through layers of red tape in Washington is one essential piece of our final mission,” she said. “As we partner with these agencies to improve federal programs, we will continue to gather best practices in each state through our 50-state tour, empower local leaders in K-12 education, restore excellence to higher education, and work with Congress to codify these reforms.”
“Together, we will refocus education on students, families, and schools – ensuring federal taxpayer spending is supporting a world-class education system,” said McMahon.
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“The actions you announced on November 18th to continue hollowing out the U.S. Department of Education are outrageous, illegal, and will jeopardize the funding and support that tens of millions of students, teachers, and families across the country rely on,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to the education secretary.
“Your brazen attempt to dismantle the Department by transferring to other federal agencies complex and foundational responsibilities that Congress specifically charged to the Department—including more than half of all federal funds for elementary and secondary education programs and billions in higher education funding—will undermine public education,” they alleged.
“This is the latest example of this administration’s complete lack of regard for our laws and its failure to provide the certainty, clarity, and stability that students and schools deserve when it comes to the federal government’s approach and commitment to properly implementing federal education laws and appropriations,” the legislators wrote.
“To justify these new IAA’s, you say federal funding will keep flowing to states, school districts, and colleges,” said the lawmakers. “But we have already seen funding held up and seriously delayed because of this administration’s chaotic changes—and its extreme policies—and the moves you announced last week are certain to further jeopardize these funds.”
The lawmakers go on to break down in detail why they feel each of the partnering departments would not be able to adequately take of the mantle of the responsibilities being delegated to them by the DOE.
“The other federal agencies that will suddenly have significant responsibilities in administering billions in education funding —have provided no information about their roles or their capacity to carry out these programs and activities. The plan seems clear—to jam these changes through for a talking point, whatever the consequences may be for states, school districts, schools, students, and families,” the lawmakers argued.
They close the letter by urging the DOE to reverse this action and “refocus” their efforts on supporting education and carrying out the responsibilities delegated to them by Congress.
