Department officials said they have since abandoned the civil rights proposals, which were sure to be the most controversial part of the plan. And last week, the department announced it would reassign its budget director, the first move toward disbanding the budget office. Some department employees denounced the move as an effort to dismantle an agency that would provide a critical check on the department’s overhaul plans, but other experts said it made sense. The department would acquire an “out-of-school youth” program from the Labor Department, as well as a program that helps reintegrate ex-prisoners. “Things have gotten pretty awful here,” said the email from the Education Department official, which noted that the department would start requiring screening of all communication with Congress.

Source: New York Times March 20, 2018 09:00 UTC