By Suzanne Downing 
The Trump Administration advanced its long-promised plan to dismantle the US Department of Education on Tuesday, announcing a slate of interagency agreements that transfer major federal education functions to other departments. The goal, officials said, is to shrink the federal bureaucracy, return authority to the states, and embed remaining federal programs into agencies better aligned with their missions.
In a statement, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the effort marks a decisive shift away from Washington-directed schooling and toward state and local control.
One of the most consequential shifts is the new Indian Education Partnership between the Department of Education and the Department of the Interior. Under the agreement, Interior will take on a significantly expanded role in administering Indian Education programs covering elementary and secondary schooling, higher education, career and technical training, and vocational rehabilitation.
With oversight from Education, Interior will manage grant competitions, provide technical assistance, and integrate longstanding ED programs into the portfolio of Native-focused education programs already housed at DOI. Officials say consolidation is intended to give Tribes a single, clearer point of contact—an important change for Alaska’s 229 federally recognized Tribes and the state’s vast rural school network.
“The ED-DOI partnership will build an integrated system designed to assist Native youth and adults throughout their academic career and pursuit of high-wage, high-demand, high-skill occupations. This agreement will also reduce the administrative burden on tribal nations by reducing duplicative reporting requirements for programs covered under the agreement, to the extent permissible under existing statutory authorities. This means that grantees will have to coordinate with one fewer federal agency on programs specifically designed to support their communities, the Department wrote.
The programs impacted include:
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Programs:
• Indian Education Grants to Local Education Agencies
• Special Programs for Indian Children – Indian Education Professional Development Grant Program
• Special Programs for Indian Children – Demonstration Grants
• State Tribal Education Partnership Program
• Native American and Alaska Native Language Program
• Native American Language Resource Center Program
• Alaska Native Education Program
• Native Hawaiian Education Program and the Native Hawaiian Education Council
• Native American and Alaska Native Children in School Program Office of Postsecondary Education Programs:
• American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities authorized under Title III, Part A of the Higher Education Act, Section 316 and Part F of the Higher Education Act, Section 371
• Indian Education-related Research and Development Infrastructure Grant program components authorized under Title VII, Part B of the Higher Education Act
Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education Programs:
• Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and Technical Institutions Program
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Programs:
• American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program
• Continued support for IDEA Part D funding for Tribally controlled colleges and universities
“Under President Donald Trump, Native American education programs will become stronger, more accountable, and fully dedicated to ensuring Native students are prepared for success,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “Through a vital partnership with the Department of Education, the Department of the Interior will assume administration for enhancing Indian education programs, streamlining operations, and refocusing efforts to better serve Native youth and adults across the nation. Today is just the beginning of a brighter future where Native students and their communities are empowered with the tools, opportunities, and support they need to thrive for generations to come.”
Another shift affects college students who are parents. Education and Health and Human Services have created the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) Partnership to consolidate on-campus child care programs under the agency that already oversees most federal child care grants.
HHS will administer existing competitions, provide technical assistance, and fold the CCAMPIS program into its broader child care infrastructure.
“The Trump Administration is streamlining unnecessary bureaucracy and cutting red tape to allow us to serve more student-parents across college campuses,” said Alex J. Adams, Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families. “Our partnership with the Department of Education will ensure families have access to childcare options that meet their needs and can accelerate their educational and economic success.”
Two additional agreements with the Department of Labor represent a wide transfer of authority over postsecondary, workforce, and K–12 programs. The Postsecondary Education Partnership will give Labor primary responsibility for administering most Higher Education Act grant programs, aligning them with federal workforce development initiatives.
The administration is calling the shift a response to the nation’s shortage of over 700,000 skilled workers, saying that consolidating training and education grants will help students acquire job-ready credentials more efficiently. Labor will manage funds, run competitions, provide technical support, and integrate these education programs into the department’s existing job training framework.
A parallel Elementary and Secondary Education Partnership will give Labor a larger role in K–12 programs, especially those tied to workforce readiness and career pathways. Officials say the goal is to align the entire education pipeline—from elementary school through college—with workforce needs.
“The Labor Department is committed to working with the Department of Education to ensure our K-12 and postsecondary education programs prepare students for today and tomorrow’s workforce demands,” said Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer. “Parents and community leaders understand how important training and education are for students from all walks of life to succeed and support their local economies. Secretary McMahon and I will continue advancing President Trump’s vision to deliver effective, streamlined resources, so every student has a clear pathway from education to opportunity.”
While some of the agreements are already in effect, others will phase in over the coming year as Congress considers legislation to permanently restructure or eliminate the federal Department of Education.
For now, the administration describes this as a transition period in which programs will be realigned, oversight structures revised, and state-level engagement expanded.
Seeing that laundry list of “Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Programs” is like a Christian saying he needs churches to practice his faith
Does a Native American or Alaska Native REALLY need a government telling them how to be Native? We never needed government programs like Christians find out under intense persecutions they don’t need a building to meet as a church to be a Christian.
“The Trump Administration is streamlining unnecessary bureaucracy and cutting red tape”. This is code for eliminating good things. This is the administration of Donald Trump, the most corrupt and most hated president since the beginning of time. Within his administration is Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, a billionaire. He has zero land management experience. Also within is Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, a former professional wrestling executive who also has zero experience in education. And it showed when she didn’t know what AI is, instead referring to it as A1 (ie, the steak sauce). If the goal is to FUBAR Alaska Native education services, these two are over qualified.
Evan, Would you rather have the presidents of the NEA and the AFT running the Department on non-education? One doesn’t have to be an expert in a certain field, ie education, to MANAGE a large bureaucracy. Look at what the university academics have done with our children’s ability to even read at grade level! We have had enough of those so-called experts. Apparently, you are inflicted with a huge dose of Trump Derangement Syndrome. And that is truly unfortunate in it clouds your rational thinking. Please provide specifics regarding your TDS–“the most corrupt and most hated president since the beginning of time”.
Also, you seem to have an adverse reaction to those that are successful-Secretary Burgum. Who would you prefer for that job–the former REI CEO Secretary of Interior Sally Jewel, a millionaire in her own right?
Quiet. Quiet Piggy.
Trump’s approval rating falls to 38%, weighed down by cost of living concerns, Epstein
Only 26% approve of Trump’s handling of everyday expenses
Most Americans think government is hiding details on the Epstein files
“Behold. The festering carcass of American rot shoved into an ill-fitting suit: the sleaze of a conman, the cowardice of a draft dodger, the gluttony of a parasite, the racism of a Klansman, the sexism of a back-alley creep, the ignorance of a bar-stool drunk, and the greed of a hedge-fund ghoul – all spray-painted orange and paraded like a prize hog at a county fair. Not a president. Not even a man. Just the diseased distillation of everything this country swears it isn’t but always has been – arrogance dressed up as exceptionalism, stupidity passed off as common sense, cruelty sold as toughness, greed exalted as ambition, and corruption worshipped like gospel. It is America’s shadow made flesh, a rotting pumpkin idol proving that when a nation kneels before money, power, and spite, it doesn’t just lose its soul – it shits out this bloated obscenity and calls it a leader.”
― Oliver Kornetzke
This dirty gem from a 2016 court transcript against Trump should have you protecting your daughters.
11. On the third occasion involving the Defendant, Donald J. Trump, the Plaintiff, Katie Johnson
was forced to engage in an unnatural lesbian sex act with her fellow minor and sex slave, Maria Doe
age 12, for the sexual enjoyment of Defendant Trump. After this sex act, both minors were forced
to orally copulate Defendant Trump by placing their mouths simultaneously on his erect penis until
he achieved sexual orgasm. After zipping up his pants, Defendant Trump physically pushed both
minors away while angrily berating them for the “poor” quality of their sexual performance.
I’ll take ‘Things that never happened for 1000, Alex’
A man pardoned by Trump for storming the Capitol on January 6th was arrested in August and charged with sex crimes against two children. One of the victims, an 11 year old boy, said 44-year-old Andrew Paul Johnson molested him three times. Only the best people Mo.
If Natives are sovereign, why do they need all this federal and to them foreign government involvement? All of it ought to be scrapped.