California schools chief slams federal plan to break up Education Department functions

The U.S. Department of Education announced six new interagency agreements that will shift key responsibilities to the Departments of Labor, Interior, Health and Human Services, and State. Federal officials say the restructuring is designed to improve efficiency in delivering funded programs and move toward President Trump’s goal of returning education authority to the states. California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond criticized the plan, calling it an unnecessary and disruptive change that will harm students and create inefficiencies for state and local education agencies now forced to work with four departments instead of one.