Este artículo estará disponible en español en El Tiempo Latino.

As justification for dismantling the federal Department of Education, President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that U.S. schools are “ranked 40 out of 40” in educational outcomes compared with other countries, while the U.S. “ranked No. 1 in cost per pupil.” Neither claim is accurate.

U.S. high school students performed above average in science and reading, and a bit below average in math, according to the latest data compiled by the intergovernmental Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. And in other international assessments, elementary students in the U.S. scored above average in math, science and reading.

During the campaign, Trump made no secret of his desire to dismantle the federal Department of Education. As president, Trump said that remains his goal.

Trump told reporters on Feb. 4 that he had said to Linda McMahon, his nominee to be Education secretary, “‘Linda I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job.'”

Trump said he wants to “let the states run schools,” and that he would funnel most of the funding for the Department of Education to states. As a technical matter, states and local communities already run the schools — setting the curriculum and teacher certification standards. As the Department of Education explains, “the Federal role in education [is] as a kind of ’emergency response system,’ a means of filling gaps in State and local support for education when...

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