President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education drew criticism from Hawaii’s Congressional delegation on Thursday.

What You Need To Know

  • Dating back to his first run as president, Trump has criticized the department as being bloated and ineffective. His order directs the secretary of education to develop a plan for closing the department while retaining certain core functions, including Title 1 funding

  • By law, the president cannot unilaterally shut down the department. However, shortly after Trump signed the order, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., announced that he would be introducing legislation through which Congress would be able to execute the president’s intent

  • Case dismissed the administration’s claims that the order was intended to improve the quality of public education by allowing states to assume primary responsibility and accused the president of gutting the department as part of an effort to pay for a massive tax cut for the richest Americans

U.S. Rep. Ed Case called the order “one of the broadest and deepest and outright shortsighted and heartless of many attacks on the foundations of our society to date.”

Dating back to his first run as president, Trump has criticized the department as being bloated and ineffective. His order directs the secretary of education to develop a plan for closing the department while retaining certain core functions, including Title 1 funding.

The order follows the mass layoff of some 1,300 ED (Department of Education) employees — roughly half of the department’s total workforce — on March 11.

By law, the president cannot unilaterally shut down the department. However, shortly after Trump signed the order, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., announced that he would introduce legislation through which Congress could execute the president’s intent.

Case dismissed the administration’s claims that the order should improve the quality of public education by allowing states to assume primary responsibility and accused the president of gutting the department as part of an effort to pay for a massive tax cut for the richest Americans.

“Our federal government has been an integral part of our commitment (to public education) since the earliest years of our country, and the USDOE, as a stand-alone cabinet-level department appropriate to its importance, has been the law of our land since 1980,” he continued. “Its dismantling, and the real underlying purpose to eliminate any federal funding for education, would cause severe harm on a broad scale that would have lasting effects not just immediately but for generations."

Sen. Brian Schatz echoed the accusations.

“Everything this administration does in the name of so-called efficiency and savings is about one thing: enriching the richest people to ever walk the planet,” he said. “This time, it’s our children who will pay for it with their futures.”

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono said Trump’s order will have serious consequences for the most vulnerable students.

“These programs support low-income students and students with disabilities, help to prevent discrimination in the classroom, provide meals for kids in need and ensure access to quality education for every student in our nation,” Hirono said.

Rep. Jill Tokuda criticized the president for firing ED employees he couldn’t force into retirement and “starving” educators of resources and funding needed to maintain the public education system. She vowed to resist her Congressional Republicans’ efforts to eliminate the department altogether.

“Only an act of Congress can eliminate the (Department of Education) and I can assure you I will continue to push back and battle this order in the House,” she said.

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.