To the Teacher:
What is the Department of Education, and what does it do? What impact does it have on students, and how would things change if it were abolished?
This two-part lesson consists of two readings that investigate the Department of Education as a historic and modern governmental agency. The first reading takes a closer look at the administration’s plans for the department, as well as potential reasons why his plan might not be possible. The second reading explains the functions of the Department of Education and what the impact on students might be if it were eliminated. Questions for discussion follow each reading.
Photo by Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash
Reading One – Can President Trump Eliminate the Department of Education?
Carrying out a promise he previously made on the campaign trail, President Trump announced on February 4, 2025, that he plans to issue an executive order with the aim of dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. This threat has garnered the attention of educators, parents, and students, many of whom expressed concern about how this change might impact American public schools. While experts have pointed out that eliminating the Department of Education would be complex and may not be something that could be legally done merely through an executive order, President Trump’s actions may nevertheless significantly affect the department and thereby influence the future of education in the United States.
Reporting for the Washington Post on February 4, education journalists Laura Meckler, Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, and Hannah Natanson explained the White House announcement. They wrote:
President Donald Trump is preparing an executive order aimed at eventually closing the Education Department and, in the short term, dismantling it from within, according to three people briefed on its contents.
The draft order acknowledges that only Congress can shut down the department and instead directs the agency to begin to diminish itself, these people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about internal issues.
That work is underway already. The new administration has been trying to reduce the workforce by putting scores of employees on administrative leave and pressuring staff to voluntarily quit.
A White House official confirmed that it is preparing for executive action later this month that will fulfill Trump’s campaign pledge to defund the department...
The expected executive order would not shut down the agency, as there is widespread agreement in both parties that doing so would require congressional action, the people familiar said. The Education Department was created by Congress, and only Congress can eliminate it.
Such congressional action is unlikely, people in both parties say. Legislation would require a supermajority of 60 votes in the Senate, meaning at least seven Democrats would need to support the plan, which observers say is inconceivable…
The order is expected to direct the Education Department to develop a legislative plan to present to Congress. But it also will instruct the department to come up with a plan to diminish its staff and functions…
Trump and his team probably understand they will not be successful in tearing the Education Department to pieces by executive order, said Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative think tank. But he said the move will please Trump’s base and test the limits of presidential power.
“What will be interesting is if he orders parts of the department to be moved to other agencies, in violation of the statutes,” Petrilli said. “Then that’ll be a test, and we’ll see what happens in the courts.”
….
Donald K. Sherman, executive director and chief counsel for legal advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Trump could weaken the department without moving a single function. Pushing senior staffers out, gutting budgets and firing the department’s inspector general, he said, could make the agency a shell of its former self.
“Trump has done a lot already to weaken the department,” Sherman said. “People are demoralized. They are being driven out with the end goal of destroying a critical arm of the government.”
In addition to the fact that President Trump’s power is limited by Congress, there are several additional reasons why eliminating the Department of Education could be difficult. In an October 2024 article for The New Republic, professor emeritus and former dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy Donald F. Kettle gave three reasons why eliminating the department is something President Trump “can’t, wouldn’t, and never would be allowed to do.” Kettle wrote:
One of Donald Trump’s flagship promises is that he’d wipe out the U.S. Department of Education. “We will move everything back to the states, where it belongs,” he’s told cheering audiences. The states “can individualize education and do it with the love for their children.”
But the promise rings false—it’s something that he can’t, wouldn’t, and never would be allowed to do. There are three reasons why.
First is the “we” in Trump’s promise. No president controls the bureaucracy. Under the Constitution, Congress defines the structure of the federal government: It creates and eliminates agencies, the number of employees they hire, the amount of money they spend, and the programs they fund. The president isn’t a CEO, and Congress isn’t a board of directors. Congress isn’t about to pass a law eliminating the department.
The second reason is the specter of raised taxes. The Department of Education doles out billions in grants of all kinds. If they went away, states could, in theory, just do without. And that sounds great to conservatives—less government! But in fact, those grants come in pretty handy. For example, presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said he’d eliminate the Department of Education if he were elected. But Florida Governor Ron DeSantis would never take his own deal. The Sunshine State got $5 billion from the Department of Education in 2023 from both grants and college student aid.
Florida would thus face a choice: Do without those popular grants, which really do help many thousands of people, or replace the money. And replacing that money would require the state to hike taxes by 5.2 percent, at a time when DeSantis had to cut spending 2.2 percent to make the 2024–2025 budget balance.
In the seven swing states that will decide the election (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin), state and local officials would have to increase taxes permanently by 3 percent to make up for the money lost in federal grants—or cut programs that everyone likes….
The third argument is that Trump supporters claim that the states would be able to save lots of money from ridding the system of “suffocating bureaucratic red tape,” as [an initiative called] Project 2025 puts it. But that’s not the way it works. In general, states spend about 10 percent of their Department of Education grants on administration and the rest gets passed along in subgrants to local schools. By way of comparison, nonprofits tend to spend about a third of their budgets on administrative costs, a rate more than three times higher than state governments. State administration is already pretty lean, and there isn’t much fat to be trimmed from operations. States won’t be able to keep their educational operations afloat if they lose the federal cash.…
So it’s one thing to boldly proclaim the abolition of the Department of Education. But the consequences here, as is the case with most of the other slash-and-burn proposals, will cut deeply, right to bone—to the local schools and the students they serve.
[https://newrepublic.com/article/187158/trump-eliminate-department-education-lying-dreaming]
Although President Trump may face resistance in Congress in fully dismantling the Department of Education, his actions could nevertheless have a significant effect on how the department functions. Notwithstanding the factors that Donald Kettle raises, the White House has shown a willingness to attempt dramatic reorganizations of federal government agencies. This includes action such as firing staff, defunding programs and diminishing a department’s influence. Actions such as these may end up impacting public schools in America.
For Discussion:
- How much of the material in this reading was new to you, and how much was already familiar? What connections did you make? What questions do you have?
- According to the reading, what steps has the Trump administration taken towards its goal of weakening or abolishing the Department of Education?
- In what way is the President’s power limited by Congress. How might this affect his plans for the department?
- Professor emeritus Donald F. Kettle pointed to several factors that might make an attack on the Department of Education costly or unpopular. What were these factors? What did you think of them?
- How do you feel about the Trump administration’s proposal?
Reading Two -- What Does the Department of Education Actually Do?
Most people are not familiar with the inner workings of governmental agencies, and the Department of Education is one agency that few people know much about. If President Trump manages to carry out his plan and abolish it entirely, students and teachers will be impacted, but how? In a January 2025 article for The Christian Science Monitor, K-12 education writer and staff reporter Jackie Valley explained more about how the department works. Valley wrote:
The Education Department, as it exists today, dates back to 1979, when Congress passed a law establishing it. The move followed several decades of expanded federal funding for education, fueled by Cold War-era concerns as well as efforts to create a more level playing field among students of all races, genders, socioeconomic backgrounds, and abilities. Today, the department’s spending totals less than 3% of the $9.7 trillion spent by the federal government at the end of its most recent fiscal year.
The federal government’s [Department of Education] role in education is “by and large, to provide extra support to states and districts for the neediest students,” says Robert Kim, executive director of the Education Law Center.
That mission takes shape in many forms. On the higher education side, a sizable contribution is through student financial aid such as direct loans, Pell Grants, or work-study programs [for college students]. Those funds support the department’s mission of providing equal access to education, giving a pathway to postsecondary degrees for students who otherwise may not be able to afford them.…
The Education Department also puts billions of dollars toward supporting disadvantaged students and children who qualify for special education services. That money flows to states in the form of grants, which are then distributed to local school districts.
The Title I grant program, which helps schools serve children from low-income households, is one of the most recognizable examples. Schools use that money to bridge achievement gaps through initiatives such as extended school days, tutoring programs, and mental health support services. “Those extra dollars are crucial for districts of every political stripe – red or blue or purple,” Mr. Kim says. “It can’t be stressed enough how it’s really a backstop against the effects of poverty and other types of disadvantage.”.…
Of course, accountability can’t happen without measurable data. That’s why another function of the department is to collect information and data, which then informs research and decision-making. The department houses information on everything from test scores to teacher salaries.
[https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2025/0103/trump-department-of-education-students]
Closing the Department of Education would impact some students more than others. Writing in The Guardian in January 2025, breaking news reporter Gloria Oladipo outlined the potential impacts:
In 1980, under former president Jimmy Carter, the [Department of Education] was reconceived as an executive agency with the purpose of ensuring equal education access in primary, secondary and higher education across all states. Historically, the department has overseen the implementation of federal civil rights laws in local school districts, such as the desegregation of schools following the Supreme Court’s Brown v Board of Education decision….
Investigating civil rights violations is a critical function of the department, carried out by their Office of Civil Rights (OCR). In 2023, OCR received a record 19,201 complaints, according to the department’s annual report, with 45% of complaints relating to sex discrimination. Amid an onslaught of legislation targeting transgender youth last year, the OCR fielded several complaints from LGBTQ+ students against their school districts.
Eighteen percent of complaints dealt with race and national origin discrimination, including bullying and racist harassment from school officials. In one high-profile example, the OCR investigated the Jefferson county school district, Kentucky’s largest public school district, and found that Black students were punished more often and more severely than white students. As a result, the district is mandated to amend their disciplinary policies by March 2025.…
Under Trump, the department could be underfunded or further understaffed, and offices such as OCR already struggle to investigate an increasing number of complaints. Disenfranchised students, including students of color and those with disabilities, who rely on Title I funding, would be affected as Trump could make further cuts to the underfunded program. “About 90% of school funding comes from local and state sources, but 10% comes from the federal government,” said Perera. “That 10% is oriented towards poor communities, communities that are disproportionately of color, [where if] that money were to go away overnight, those schools would be in a very difficult position.”
[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/21/trump-education-department]
Since the 1980s, the Department of Education has had a significant role in monitoring civil rights violations and providing student financial aid in the form of work-study programs, direct loans, and grants. Eliminating the department could reverse this history and have a disproportionate impact on the students and families who need the most support.
For Discussion:
- How much of the material in this reading was new to you, and how much was already familiar? What personal connections did you make? What questions do you have?
- According to the reading, the Department of Education’s role in education is “by and large, to provide extra support to states and districts for the neediest students.” What are some of the ways in which the department provides such support?
- According to the reading, what role does the Department of Education’s role in upholding civil rights?
- What do you think the consequences would be of the Department of Education being eliminated? How do you think you or your school might be affected?
Post-Reading Activities:
After reading and discussing both articles, invite students to engage in one, or both, of the following mini-research projects below:
- The second reading mentions how the Department of Education oversees the implementation of federal civil rights laws in school districts, such as the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. If students are not familiar, ask them to research this decision. What is its historical context? What was the ruling? What has been the impact of this ruling?
- The first reading touches on how the President’s powers are limited by Congress. Invite students to research more about the “checks and balances” between the three branches of government. What is the role of each branch of government? What are some recent examples of “checks and balances” in action?
–Research assistance provided by Celeste Pepitone-Nahas