COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday in an attempt to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education.

Eliminating the department would require an act of Congress, though some state officials are already asking what doing away with the department would mean for South Carolina.

If such legislation were to be passed, the authority to manage education systems would go back to the states — meaning each state would have total control over its education system.

“We’re going to eliminate it, and everybody knows it’s right and the Democrats know it’s right,” Trump said. “I hope they’re going to be voting for it, because ultimately, it may come before them.”

The U.S. Department of Education oversees school policies and provides grants and financial aid.

South Carolina Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver noted there are protections in the federal law for special needs and low-income students, as well as Title I funding.

“We are in intensive conversations with our local superintendents and also with the folks in Washington who are coming in in the new administration, to make sure that they are hearing from the ground up what the impact of these decisions are going to be,” said Weaver.

Sherry East, president of South Carolina Education Association said the change could have a negative impact on those students.

“Well, it’s almost like a gut punch,” East said. “Here we go trying to dismantle public education and we have been fighting this. We feel like we have been under attack for a while now.”

Brandon Charochak, a spokesman for South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, sent us a statement which reads in part:

“A good education is best shaped by those who know their students and communities—not by Washington bureaucrats.”

Trump said student loans, Pell Grants and Title I funding won’t be touched. The Small Business Administration will take over the responsibility of student loans.

The White House said it is still discussing which agencies will be in charge of these items.