Senator Hassan Leads Measure to Overturn President Trump’s Effort to Close the Department of Education

WASHINGTON – Today, as the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions considered education legislation, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) introduced and urged consideration of her amendment to overturn President Trump’s recent executive order to close the U.S. Department of Education. Every Republican member of the Committee voted to prevent consideration of the amendment.

“It is absurd that as we are talking about the important work that the Department of Education does in helping students pursue higher education, the President is working to entirely eliminate the Department of Education,” said Senator Hassan when introducing the amendment. “My amendment would prevent the President’s reckless and misguided assault on the Department of Education’s critical work to support students and schools across the country.”

Senator Hassan’s amendment would overturn President Trump’s Executive Order 14242, which the President issued to begin the process of abolishing the U.S. Department of Education. The Department of Education helps students in the Granite State and across the country learn, grow, and thrive. New Hampshire schools receive more than $51 million in federal Title 1 funding through the Department of Education – funding that helps New Hampshire schools hire teachers, provide tutoring services, offer career and technical education, and prevent class sizes from growing. Additionally, the Department of Education plays a critical role in helping to ensure that students experiencing disabilities are fully included in public schools. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Department of Education currently provides more than $57 million to New Hampshire schools through the IDEA Grants to States program to help fund the education of children ages three through 21. New Hampshire has 31,000 students with disabilities – reflecting 17% of New Hampshire’s student population.