President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to end the U.S. Department of Education, a move largely seen as illegal that has already been challenged in court.

In a White House ceremony surrounded by children sitting at desks, Trump signed an executive order on March 20 directing Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to take all necessary steps to close the Department of Education.

“Closing the Department of Education would provide children and their families the opportunity to escape a system that is failing them,” the executive order reads.

The order cited historically low student achievement despite massive federal spending — including $200 billion during the pandemic — as reasons to shutter this “unaccountable bureaucracy” and return authority over education to the states.

Los Angeles USD Superintendent Albert Carvalho has refuted this notion.

“For those who argue that maybe there’s a better way of earmarking dollars directly to states through block grants and empower the states with local decisions, I have news for you — that’s already the reality,” he said in a video statement.

Carvalho said states only get 4 percent to 7 percent of their budget from the federal government and that textbook adoption, curriculum and assessments are already determined by states and locally elected school boards.

LAUSD, the second-largest school district in the nation, receives around $1.2 billion from the federal government, a large portion of which goes to Title I programs benefiting students in the poorest communities.

“Any significant change at the appropriation level, undermining current funding levels, could prove to be catastrophic in terms of the quality of education kids get,” Carvalho said. “It could mean an end to after-school programs, an end to tutorial programs. It could be the loss of a teacher’s aide in a special needs classroom. It could be the end of supper or a snack for after-school programs benefiting kids. That’s what’s at stake.”

The U.S. Department of Education was created by Congress in 1979 through legislation signed by President Jimmy Carter. Legal experts, advocates and others have said it would take another act of Congress to do away with the department.

“While today’s Executive Order signals an intent to dismantle the United States Department of Education, we want to reiterate once again that an Executive Order is not law and that Congress alone holds the authority to close a department that Congress created,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, in a statement. “Any change to the federal government’s obligations to protect students’ access to public education must come from congressional action.”

Thurmond said other recent actions by the Trump administration have caused “real harm” to California students, such as the elimination of contracts with agencies that provide support to students and the shuttering of the Office for Civil Rights in San Francisco, one of several satellite offices around the country that help enforce civil rights laws in schools.

“While the federal administration is clearly willing to disrupt pathways to the American Dream, California remains focused on the promise of educational opportunities for all students,” Thurmond said.

On March 24, advocacy organizations representing millions of educators, civil rights champions, school employees, students, and families filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

The complaint argues that the Constitution grants the power to establish (or eliminate) departments to Congress and that Trump’s actions since Jan. 20 are a de facto dismantling of the department.

The plaintiffs include the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, public school parents, The National Education Association, and AFSCME Maryland Council 3, and they are supported by Student Defense and Education Law Center.

“While state and local governments are responsible for the vast majority of America’s public education system, Congress created the department to help bridge longstanding gaps in educational opportunity and provide critical funding and supports to students,” according to a news release from the plaintiffs. “The department fulfills that role by enforcing civil rights laws, supporting students with disabilities, promoting equal educational opportunities, bolstering the educator workforce, and administering the Federal Student Aid programs that place college within reach of working Americans.”

The plaintiffs contend that closing the Department of Education would put millions of students at risk, including those from low-income families, English learners, homeless students, rural students, students with disabilities and others who depend on department support. In addition, it leaves millions of students vulnerable to discrimination.