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Donald Trump has promised to end the Department of Education. As the president-elect prepares to transition to power, the question remains of when that promise will become reality.Political science experts say this is a wait-and-see situation.TOP STORIES3 men, 1 woman wanted after vehicle chase on Interstate 40, Davie County officials sayWoman dies after car plunges down embankment along closed part of Interstate 40, authorities sayOne person hospitalized after assault in GreensboroGet the latest news stories of interest by clicking hereThe Department of Education was established as a federal agency in 1980 by Congress and currently serves more than 50 million students across 98,000 public schools and 32,000 private schools.Political science professors from Wake Forest, High Point University and North Carolina A&T say it would take congressional action to eliminate it, but theres no guarantee that a majority of Republicans in the House or Senate would agree to that proposal.A big question is, if the DOE is eliminated, what will happen to education funding?Professor John Dinan of Wake Forest University said the vast majority of K-12 education funding comes from state and local governments. The Department of Education manages and distributes a limited amount of money among K-12 schools.Dr. Briana Hyman of NCA&T told WXII this isnt the first time nixing the Department of Education has been proposed. One of the Department of Education's most important responsibilities is overseeing financial aid for colleges and universities. If it goes through, it could make higher education harder to attain for students across the country."The funding aspect is going to be super critical for our students," she said. "A great portion of NCA&T's students rely on federal funds to pay for their education, not just tuition, but also, you know, other fees and housing and things like that associated with coming to school."Hyman said thats not the only challenge college students could potentially face. Title IX protections would also be at risk. "How would we make sure that our students' civil rights are being upheld? How would we make sure that their privacy concerns are being heard and upheld," she asked. "Specifically for HBCUs, we are historically underfunded anyway. To add to that would be quite detrimental."Dinan said that if the Department of Education were to go, those responsibilities would still need to be fulfilled. "Those functions that the education department currently performs are mandated by federal law," he said. "They would have to be performed, if not by the education department, by some other department or other officials." Professor Martin Kifer of High Point University said it will take congressional action to make such a major change. "There are all these issues about what would have to happen with programs that you didn't want to totally do away with," he said. "It's too soon to say exactly what the president-elect will eventually be able to do with the Department of Education." In the meantime, Hyman said there is a way for higher education to prepare. Watch: NOWCAST streaming newscasts"Advocate for the protections of funding for colleges and universities and HBCUs with legislative officials," she said. "Because, again, that would be a way that we could kind of circumvent things." Because this isn't a change that would happen overnight, Dinan suggested its possible the incoming Trump administration will focus on staffing at top positions of the Department of Education to gradually shape education policy. NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Watch NOWCAST TV | Local News | National | News We Love |TRENDING STORIES

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