Michigan lawmakers react to Trump's order, dismantling the Department of Education

Lawmakers react to Trump's order to dismantle U.S. Education Department

Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was highly critical of the move. From where she stands U.S. education has been underfunded. Tlaib talked about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, pushing for programs that support vulnerable children to see more money, not less.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Republicans and Democrats in Michigan are reacting to plans to dismantle the Department of Education, which was signed in an executive order by President Donald Trump.

What they're saying:

Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was highly critical of the move. From where she stands, U.S. education has been underfunded.

"It’s really alarming to me because the majority of Americans will tell you they don’t want to give up on the Department of Education, they don’t want to give up on our education system," said Tlaib.

Tlaib talked about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, pushing for programs that support vulnerable children to see more money, not less.

The other side:

On the other side of the aisle, Michigan GOP Chair Jim Runestad is on board with Trump's plan.

"A bunch of bureaucrats at the federal level highly paid bloated bureaucracy doing nothing is not going to improve education here in the United States," he said. "He’s doing the right thing. We need to return the money to the states they said they are going to do it in a deliberative way so it doesn’t impact programs."

The White House points to a sharp increase in per-pupil spending since the Department of Education’s inception while the United States has lost ground to other nations in math and reading.

"They poured $3 trillion down a rathole with no appreciable improvement of scores," Runestad said.

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