Senator Murray Slams Trump’s Latest Efforts to Abolish Department of Education

Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a roundtable discussion at North Seattle College with parents, advocates, and education leaders in Washington state to discuss the many ways President Trump and his administration are attacking Americans’ public education and trying to illegally abolish the U.S. Department of Education—from terminating important grants to hollowing out the Department of Education and, now, spinning off key functions to other agencies.

This week, the Trump administration announced plans to further dismantle the Department of Education—the only federal agency solely focused ensuring children can get a quality education—by transferring the administration of key Department functions administered by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Office of Postsecondary Education, the Office of Indian Education, and various other programs to federal agencies with little to no expertise in education.

Joining Senator Murray for the roundtable discussion were: Dr. Rachel Solemsaas, President of North Seattle College; Gina Topp, Seattle School Board President; Melinda Dyer, former Assistant Director of Homeless Education at the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI); Rachel Gittleman, President of AFGE Local 252 which represents Department of Education employees—and a former Ed employee herself whose office was RIFed this year; and Ann Simonson, a Seattle-area mom of a daughter with disabilities.