AFT criticizes Trump plan to dismantle Education Department

AFT President Randi Weingarten has responded to President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education by transferring its functions to other federal agencies. The announcement was made public today.

Weingarten stated, “This move is neither streamlining nor reform—it’s an abdication and abandonment of America’s future. Rather than show leadership in helping all students seize their potential, it walks away from that responsibility.”

She explained that while the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) initially opposed creating a separate Education Department in the 1970s due to concerns about bureaucracy, the union has since supported a federal role aimed at helping all children succeed. “The AFT was opposed to a stand-alone Education Department back when it was first proposed in the 1970s. Teachers have always hated bureaucracy for bureaucracy’s sake. What we have supported in the decades since is a federal role that helps all children, not just some, succeed,” Weingarten said.

Weingarten also challenged claims that this action would reduce government inefficiency. She invited President Trump and Linda McMahon to consult with educators on improving effectiveness: “What’s happening now isn’t about slashing red tape. If that were the goal, teachers could help them do it, and we invite Donald Trump and Linda McMahon to sit down with educators and hear from the people who actually do this work every day. Teachers know how to make the federal role more effective, efficient and supportive of real learning—if only the administration would listen.”

She warned that dispersing education services across several departments could lead to confusion and create barriers for those seeking support: “Instead, spreading services across multiple departments will create more confusion, more mistakes and more barriers for people who are just trying to access the support they need. It’s a deliberate diversion of funding streams that have helped generations of kids achieve their American dream. And it will undermine public schools as places where diverse voices come together and where pluralism, the bedrock of our democracy, is strengthened.”

Calling on Congress to act during upcoming debates over federal education funding, Weingarten emphasized continued opposition: “We are now watching the federal government shirk its responsibility to all kids. That is unacceptable. Congress must reclaim its authority over education during upcoming federal funding battles. In the meantime, the AFT will continue to fight back, including in court, because every American, no matter their background, deserves a strong, well-resourced public school that forges a future full of purpose, promise and possibility.”