For years, going back to his first term in office, Donald Trump has promised this.

And one other thing I'll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington, D.C.

I want to close the Department of Education and move education back to the states where it belong.

And I'm going to close the Department of Education and move education back to the states.

And we're going to do it fast.

Eliminating the Department of Education is in line with the conservative blueprint for Trump's second term, called Project 2025, a document from which Trump has actively distanced himself.

Shutting down the department does not sit well

with traditional supporters like Randy Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers.

It completely takes away and abolishes this notion of opportunity for all and of knowledge for all.

Believe it or not, the Education Department in its current

form is only about four decades old. It was then President Jimmy Carter, along with Congress,

who elevated the department to a cabinet-level agency. Today, the department oversees everything

from college student loans to aid for low-income public schools and special education.

But shutting down the department, it's been a talking point for Republicans pretty much from the beginning.

It was part of Ronald Reagan's plan to shrink the size of the federal government, something he talked about in his 1982 state of the union address.

The budget plan I submit to you on February 8 will realize major savings by dismantling the

departments of energy and education and by eliminating ineffective subsidies for business.

Consider this. Can President-elect Trump eliminate the Department of Education? And if he succeeds,

what would that mean for America's public schools?

From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly.

This episode is brought to you by the UK government.

It's time to make your UK visa digital.

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