President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, fulfilling a long-standing promise to his base and striking a blow against what many conservatives view as a entrenched liberal stronghold in the federal government. The order, signed during a ceremony at the White House, directs the immediate dissolution of the agency, with its functions to be phased out or transferred to state governments over the next two years. The Department of Education, established in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter, has long been a target of Republican criticism. Critics, including Trump, argue that it has morphed into a bureaucratic behemoth that imposes far-left ideology on America’s youth, stifling local control and poisoning children’s minds with progressive agendas. From promoting controversial curricula like Critical Race Theory to enforcing Title IX expansions that some say erode parental rights, the agency has been accused of prioritizing political indoctrination over genuine education. “Today, we’re taking back our schools from the radical left,” Trump declared to a cheering crowd of supporters. “For too long, the Department of Education has been a tool of liberals to brainwash our kids with woke nonsense. We’re putting parents and states back in charge—where they belong.”