Arizona, California join suit fighting Trump's executive order dismantling Department of Education

(The Center Square) - California and Arizona attorneys general have joined a lawsuit fighting President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

The Democratic attorneys general are part of a coalition of 20 states that filed the suit. Plaintiffs also include the District of Columbia.

In a statement Thursday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the Trump administration knows the president needs congressional approval to close the department. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes agrees.

The attorneys general argue the administration “continues to do everything it can” to destroy the department.

“My office will be looking at what this executive order actually does – not what the president says it will do,” said Bonta in a news release. “We will be monitoring closely to see how the president’s instructions to Education Secretary McMahon translate into concrete actions.”

The Department of Education is relatively new to the federal government. It began in 1979, whereas the departments of State, Treasury and Defense date back to the late 1700s. The departments of Interior (1849), Agriculture (1862) and Commerce (1903) have also been around longer than the Education Department.

Still, Mayes said the Department of Education is “critical” to providing millions of students with a quality education.

“Let’s not pretend this is about making government more efficient. It is not. It is destruction,” Mayes said in a press release. “It isn’t about better education policy. It is about tearing down public education by those who want to privatize it for profit."

A White House fact sheet claims that federal control of education policy has failed students, parents and teachers.

The White House adds that trillions of dollars have been spent without improving student achievement.

Pointing to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as The Nation’s Report Card, the White House states that reading and math scores are the lowest they have been in decades, and schools are struggling with regulations and paperwork.

As a result, Trump said it is time to give education back to the states.

“Everybody knows it’s right,” the president said at a signing ceremony that included children in school desks. “We’re not doing well with the world of education in this country, and we haven’t in a long time.”

The other attorneys general involved in the lawsuit are from Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia. All of the attorney generals filing the lawsuit are Democrats.