What dissolving the U.S. Department of Education could mean for Michigan students
The Trump administration has reportedly drafted an executive order directing newly-confirmed secretary Linda McMahon to start the process of dissolving the U.S. Department of Education. As such, concerns over how that could impact schooling in Michigan are running high.
"They outline the rights that students have, and dismantling that means that there's no protections for students who really need them," said University of Michigan-Dearborn student Anna Lariviere.
Michael Montgomery is a lecturer in the health and human services department at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He says the executive order wouldn't eliminate the department right away, but it could test the limits of what is known as impoundment.
"We're just not going to spend the money and/or we're going to then reallocate the money toward a priority of the current administration, as opposed to what Congress appropriated," said Montgomery. "This could get very complex. It could get very messy and will almost certainly entail substantial amounts of litigation."
Students like Anna Lariviere say that uncertainty makes planning for her future even harder.
"Everyone is kind of like, in this sense of fear, that all our degrees that we've worked so hard for are essentially becoming obsolete, not because of anything that we did or didn't do, but because of the world around us," said Lariviere.
Established by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, the Department of Education's dismantling would require congressional approval.
Soon after her Senate confirmation, McMahon told employees it was the department's "final mission to eliminate bureaucratic bloat and turn over the agency's authority to states."
Montgomery says that could include access to free or low-cost lunch, special needs and transportation services.
"They can lose real things, having real-world implications, if those things are not provided for through some manner of relocation," said Montgomery.
"We need them so we have rights. If they are able to dismantle our rights in the schools, and that's where they're starting, where are we going to go from there? That's the concerning part," added Lariviere.
