The Fate of Education: Examining the Efforts to Dismantle the Department of Education

The Department of Education has been a subject of intense debate, particularly concerning its role, effectiveness, and even its very existence. Established in 1979 during President Jimmy Carter’s administration, the department has faced significant opposition since its inception. Recent developments, including executive actions and proposed legislative measures, have further ignited this debate, raising questions about the future of federal involvement in education.

Executive Actions and Legislative Challenges

President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to start dismantling the Education Department. During a White House ceremony, Trump questioned the department's existence, stating, "It sounds strange, doesn’t it? Department of Education. We’re going to eliminate it." He expressed hope that McMahon would be the "last secretary of education."

However, fully abolishing the department requires congressional approval, presenting a significant hurdle. Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., the chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, announced plans to "submit legislation" to accomplish Trump’s goal of shutting down the Education Department "as soon as possible."

Despite Republican control of the Senate, overcoming filibusters and advancing measures to final votes requires 60 votes, making it difficult to pass any measures without bipartisan support. Democrats are largely opposed to dismantling the department. Bobby Scott, the House Education Committee’s top Democrat, called the executive order “reckless” and argued that it would put “low-income students, students of color, students with disabilities, and rural students at risk.”

Scope of the Executive Order

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that the executive order would not entirely eliminate the department. She stated that its “critical functions” would continue, including the enforcement of civil rights laws and oversight of student loans and Pell grants. "The Department of Education will be much smaller than it is today," Leavitt said, adding that the order directed McMahon "to greatly minimize the agency. So when it comes to student loans and Pell grants, those will still be run out of the Department of Education."

Additionally, the executive order would not affect department activities aimed at meeting the educational needs of students with disabilities or Title I funding, which supports school districts with high proportions of students from low-income families.

Public Opinion

Polling data indicates that eliminating the Education Department is broadly unpopular, largely due to opposition from Democrats and independents. A Quinnipiac University survey revealed that 60% of registered voters opposed the plan, while 33% were in favor. Among Democrats, only 1% supported the move, while 98% opposed it.

McMahon's Perspective

Education Secretary Linda McMahon has been a vocal advocate for reducing the department's role. At her Senate confirmation hearing, McMahon acknowledged the need to coordinate with Congress to close the department. "Certainly President Trump understands that we’ll be working with Congress," she said. "We’d like to do this right. We’d like to make sure that we are presenting a plan that I think our senators could get on board with and our Congress could get on board with that would have a better-functioning Department of Education but certainly does require congressional action."

McMahon has argued that the Department of Education does not directly educate anyone, hire teachers, establish curriculum, or hire school boards or superintendents. Instead, she contends that its primary role is to provide funding to states for their programs and that creativity and innovation should originate at the state level.

Actions to Reduce the Department's Size

McMahon and the administration have already taken steps to reduce the department's workforce significantly. NBC News reported that state officials and lawmakers have expressed concerns about their readiness to assume full responsibility for education policy.

Labor and civil rights groups have criticized the administration's efforts. National Education Association President Becky Pringle stated that the administration's actions "will hurt all students by sending class sizes soaring, cutting job training programs, making higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle class families, taking away special education services for students with disabilities, and gutting student civil rights protections." NAACP President Derrick Johnson called the order "unconstitutional," arguing that "only Congress can establish or abolish an executive agency."

Allegations of Political Messaging

The Education Department faced scrutiny over allegations that furloughed employees' out-of-office replies were manipulated to include language blaming a government shutdown on Democrats. Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, condemned the alleged actions as a "blatant violation of First Amendment rights." Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, echoed these concerns, stating that employees’ First Amendment rights were violated.

The Department's Role and Responsibilities

The Education Department does not directly run schools; that responsibility lies with individual states and local school districts. Beyond funding, the agency enforces anti-discrimination laws through its Office for Civil Rights, handling complaints related to race, gender, or disability discrimination in schools.

Before the Education Department was established, federal involvement in education was limited. The department’s creation under President Jimmy Carter aimed to organize and consolidate efforts to implement and enforce federal policies.

Transferring Grant Programs to Other Agencies

The Education Department is transferring some of its largest grant programs to other federal agencies as the Trump administration accelerates its plan to scale back the department. Six new agreements signed by the Education Department will effectively move billions of dollars in grant programs to other agencies. Most notable is one that will put the Department of Labor over some of the largest federal funding streams for K-12 schools, including Title I money for schools serving low-income communities.

Opponents have urged against such a shake-up, saying it could disrupt programs that support some of the nation’s most vulnerable student populations. Some argue that other agencies don’t have the expertise that schools and families rely on at the Education Department.

A union representing department workers said students, educators and families depend on the agency’s support for schools. “That national mission is weakened when its core functions are scattered across other federal or state agencies that are not equipped or positioned to provide the same support and services as ED staff,” AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman said.

Department officials said the programs will continue to be funded at levels set by Congress. They did not say whether the changes would bring further job cuts at the department, which has been thinned by waves of mass layoffs and voluntary retirement offers.

“The Trump Administration is taking bold action to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Cutting through layers of red tape in Washington is one essential piece of our final mission.”

Under the new plan, Labor will oversee almost all grant programs that are now managed by the Education Department’s offices for K-12 and higher education. Along with the $18 billion Title I program, that includes smaller funding pools for teacher training, English instruction and TRIO, a program that helps steer low-income students to college degrees.

Another deal will put Health and Human Services in charge of a grant program for parents who are attending college, along with management of foreign medical school accreditation. The State Department will take on foreign language programs. Interior will oversee programs for Native American education.

Justifications for Dismantling the Department

McMahon has increasingly pointed to what she sees as failures of the department as she argues for its demise. In its 45 years, she says it has become a bloated bureaucracy while student outcomes continue to lag behind. She points to math and reading scores for the country’s K-12 students, which plummeted in the wake of pandemic restrictions.

Her vision would abolish the Education Department and give states wider flexibility in how they spend money that’s now earmarked for specific purposes, including literacy and education for homeless students. That, however, would require approval from Congress. The task is complicated by the fact that some of the department’s core work has long had bipartisan support.

The new deals are part of a broader plan to prove that America’s schools and colleges can operate without the department.

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