Educators and lawmakers across South Florida are expressing their thoughts about President Donald Trump’s executive order that calls for the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education. The commander in chief on Thursday signed the executive order that, he hopes, is the first step toward sh utting down the government agency that was created in 1979. His reasoning is that the department is wasteful and is “doing no good.” “We’re going to be returning education, very simply, back to the states, where it belongs,” said Trump. But the move was met with sharp criticism across the country, and South Florida was no exception. Speaking with 7News, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., did not mince words. “[It would be] the worst possible decision for our children,” she said. The congresswoman said the order puts much needed federal funding at risk. “First of all, it’s unlawful. Second of all, it would really devastate the lives of children like this who are vulnerable,” she said. Among other things, the Department of Education distributes funding to schools across the country in low-income areas and supports programs to help ensure all students have what they need to receive an equitable education. “Funding is critical to the success of our students,” said Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jose L. Dotres. The superintendent said most of the schools in the county receive significant funding from the department, and he’s waiting to see what closing the agency would mean. “I do not know what the impact will be. One thing I do assure you is, we will continue to advocate, under whatever structure it is, for the needs of our students here locally,” he said. United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernández-Mats also weighed in on the topic, Thursday afternoon. “We are concerned. We know that the funds we have for this year are already set, but what’s happening is a domino effect that will impact longitudinally what is going to happen in the access that our kids are going to have to really high-level programs,” she said. Despite concerns over the future of federal funding, a White House fact sheet explains that along with the closure, the administration will continue “to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs and benefits on which Americans rely.” But Wasserman Schultz isn’t buying it. “Donald Trump will hurt children, and he’s going to break the law by closing the department, and I know that I’m going to fight him tooth and nail, and it will be fought in the courts, and he’ll lose,” he said. Completely dismantling the department cannot be done with an executive order alone. It would also take an act of Congress. ...read more read less