From MXMNews

Quick Hit:

President Trump is reportedly weighing an executive order to significantly reduce the Department of Education’s functions, with the ultimate goal of abolishing the agency altogether. According to the Wall Street Journal, the move would be part of a broader effort to downsize the federal government and return control over education to the states.

Key Details:

• The proposed executive order would dismantle most of the Department of Education’s operations, though functions mandated by federal law would remain.

• Trump has consistently criticized the department, pledging during his campaign to eliminate it, stating at a September rally in Wisconsin that he’s “dying” to get back in office to “eliminate the federal Department of Education.”

• Education Secretary-designate Linda McMahon’s confirmation process may influence the timing of the order, as some officials reportedly prefer waiting until after her Senate hearing to avoid complicating her nomination.

Diving Deeper:

President Trump is considering an executive order aimed at gutting the Department of Education, with plans to push for legislation to abolish the agency entirely, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Monday. The reported discussions within the Trump administration reflect the president’s long-standing campaign promise to reduce the size of the federal government and shift educational authority back to the states.

The potential executive order would target nearly all functions of the Department of Education, though programs explicitly required by statute would remain under its jurisdiction. Other responsibilities might be reassigned to different federal agencies. Importantly, while an executive order could scale back the department’s operations, fully dismantling it would require an act of Congress.

The Wall Street Journal also noted that Elon Musk, serving as the Department of Government Efficiency chief, is involved in plans for significant federal budget cuts, with the Education Department among the primary targets. A White House official told the New York Post that Trump’s administration is committed to “reevaluating the future of the Department of Education” to fulfill his campaign promises.

Throughout his campaign and presidency, Trump has been vocal about his opposition to the department. At a September rally in Wisconsin, he declared, “We will drain the government education swamp and stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth with all sorts of things that you don’t want to have our youth hearing.” In a December interview with Time magazine, he mentioned plans for at least a “virtual closure” of the department.

Internal discussions reportedly include concerns about the timing of the executive order, particularly regarding Education Secretary-designate Linda McMahon’s Senate confirmation. Some officials fear that announcing such a sweeping move before her hearing could jeopardize her nomination. When Trump nominated McMahon last November, he emphasized her role in shifting education policy back to state control, stating, “We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and LINDA will spearhead that effort.”

Former Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools trustee Monique LaGrange

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

The rebuke of the CBC comes in response to a September 2023 story the outlet published about Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools trustee Monique LaGrange, whose job was threatened for opposing gender ideology on social media.

The watchdog for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has ruled that the state-funded outlet expressed a “blatant lack of balance” in its covering of a Catholic school trustee who opposed the LGBT agenda being foisted on children.

“The article violated the principle of balance outlined in CBC’s Journalistic Standards And Practices,” CBC Ombudswoman Maxime Bertrand wrote, according to a January 29 article by Blacklock’s Reporter.

Bertrand added that the CBC’s coverage of the story provided “a perspective that can only be described as one-sided.”  

Bertrand’s rebuke of the CBC comes in response to a September 2023 story the outlet published about Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools trustee Monique LaGrange. LaGrange faced dismissal from her post for sharing to social media an image showing kids in Nazi Germany waving swastika flags during a parade alongside a photo depicting modern-day children waving pro-LGBT “Pride” flags. Under the images read the text, “Brainwashing is brainwashing.”  

After her post went viral, calls for her to step down grew from leftist Alberta politicians and others. This culminated in her removal as director of the Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association (ACSTA). It is worth noting that the Catholic Church infallibly condemns the precepts of gender ideology and the pro-LGBT agenda, including homosexual acts and transgenderism. 

In their coverage, the CBC interviewed the school board chair, the provincial minister of education, the Central Alberta Pride Society and president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, all of whom viewed her post as “repugnant.”  

However, Bertrand pointed out that the CBC failed to interview anyone in support of LaGrange, saying, “Sources offered only criticism of LaGrange with no one from the opposing side to defend her.” 

At the time, Campaign Life Coalition had written extensive articles praising LaGrange’s brave statement and calling on Canadians to support her.  

The CBC’s lack of fairness was not lost on its readers, as ratepayers submitted 31 pages’ worth of emails in support of the trustee, Blacklock’s reported.

“It may not be fair to call it a smear campaign,” Bertrand determined. “However, the blatant lack of balance could reasonably lead one to perceive some degree of bias.”  

Stephanie Coombs, director of journalism at CBC Edmonton, admitted that the network failed in their coverage of the incident, saying, “We could and should have dug deeper to determine what submissions had been made.” 

“I absolutely agree there is valuable key context worth discussing about the challenges many faith-based educational institutions face when reconciling religious doctrine with LGBTQ inclusive policies,” said Coombs. “Ms. LaGrange’s case is not an isolated incident.” 

While the CBC was called out in this case, there have been multiple instances of the outlet pushing what appears to be ideological content, including the creation of pro-LGBT material for kids, tacitly endorsing the gender mutilation of children, promoting euthanasia, and even seeming to justify the burning of mostly Catholic churches throughout the country.