State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Condemns Trump Administration Plan to Dismantle U.S. Department of Education

SACRAMENTO—Today, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s stated plan to enter into six different interagency agreements across four federal agencies, redistributing major responsibilities of the United States Department of Education (ED).

The four agencies that would receive staff and responsibilities from ED would be the Department of Labor, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of State. The programs that would be redistributed include those that serve the most vulnerable children, such as students from low-income communities.

“This is an unnecessary, disruptive change that is going to harm students, especially the most vulnerable.

It is clearly less efficient for state departments of education and local school districts to work with four different federal agencies instead of one.

Experience also tells us that any time you move expertise and responsibilities, you disrupt services. There is no way to avoid negative impacts on our children and our classrooms with a change of this magnitude.

The Trump administration does not have authority to reallocate these responsibilities. None of these changes should take effect unless this plan is approved by Congress.

The Trump White House continues to be more interested in manufacturing distractions than serving Americans. In California, we remain focused on moving the needle for student achievement, no matter what.”

For continued updates on the California Department of Education’s responses to 2025 federal actions, please see the CDE Responses to 2025 Federal Actions & Communications web page.

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Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100