The Education Department is dismantling. Here’s what that means

By COLLIN BINKLEY and ANNIE MA AP Teaching Writers WASHINGTON AP The Tuition Department is latest off several of its main offices and giving their responsibilities to other federal agencies an early look at how President Donald Trump could fulfill his campaign pledge to close the department entirely Related Articles Tuition Department offloads specific work to other agencies as Trump presses for its closure Foreign enrollment at US colleges holds steady for now despite Trump s visa crackdown Tribal college leaders are uneasy about US financial commitments despite a funding increase Judge indefinitely bars Trump from fining University of California over alleged discrimination Critics warn Florida s new teaching standards rehabilitate aspects of the anti-communist Red Scare Offices that serve the nation s schools and colleges would go to departments ranging from Labor to Interior Tuition personnel say the moves won t affect the money Congress gives states schools and colleges They didn t say whether current department staff would keep their jobs Since he took office Trump has called for the dismantling of the Training Department saying it has been overrun by liberal thinking Agency leaders have been making plans to parcel out its operations to other departments and in July the Supreme Court upheld mass layoffs that halved the department s staff In latest days Teaching Secretary Linda McMahon has started a general campaign for the end of her department making the development on social media that Coaching s grantmaking and question-answering functions could be better handled by states and other federal agencies While the necessity of the department is up for debate it s also unclear how well-equipped other state and federal departments are to take over the Mentoring Department s responsibilities The department sends billions of dollars to schools and colleges and helps decipher complex federal laws It will be a test for the administration Can the department be shut down smoothly or will rural and low-income kids and students with disabilities the populations that greater part rely on federal instruction aid be impacted Here s what the Development Department at this time handles where its responsibilities will go to other federal agencies and what will stay the same Money for schools and colleges While American schools are funded primarily by state and local money the Teaching Department serves as a conduit for billions of dollars of federal aid going to state and local coaching agencies Instruction administrators say that money will continue to be awarded as allocated by Congress but much of it will flow from another federal agency Majority notably the Department of Labor will oversee various of the largest federal funding streams for schools and colleges including Title I money for schools serving low-income communities Adult coaching programs already were moved to Labor in June Another deal will put Physical condition and Human Services in charge of a grant initiative for parents who are attending college The State Department will take on money to fund foreign language programs Interior will oversee programs supporting Native American coaching Federal attendee loans One of the department s major roles is management of the trillion federal candidate loan portfolio Attendee aid so far will be largely unaffected although McMahon and Trump have suggested it could be better handled by a different federal department Pell Grants and federal loans will continue to be disbursed and apprentice loan borrowers must continue making payments on their debts The website for the Free Application for Trainee Aid or FAFSA remains open a key piece of how colleges and universities provide aid packages to incoming students The Teaching Department will continue to handle help for people navigating the complicated form The Mentoring Department also will continue to oversee another major part of higher tuition accreditation which allows colleges to accept students federal financial aid Students with disabilities For now the department will continue to distribute money to schools to provide educational endorsement for students with disabilities though McMahon has suggested this function could move to the Department of Wellbeing and Human Services The Teaching Department also oversees investigations into schools and universities alleged to have violated disability rights law along with other civil rights violations such as discrimination involving sex race and shared ancestry Those responsibilities will remain with the department for now although McMahon has suggested sending them to the Department of Justice In any occurrence since the mass layoffs in March the Office for Civil Rights has operated under a significantly reduced footprint The department s civil rights branch lost about half of its staff The cuts raised questions about whether the office would be able to shrink a backlog of complaints from students who allege they have experienced discrimination on the basis of race sex or disability status The department s own figures has shown a decline in resolving civil rights cases while new complaints from families have increased The Associated Press teaching coverage receives financial help from multiple private foundations AP is solely responsible for all content Find AP s standards for working with philanthropies a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP org