On March 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin weakening the United States Department of Education, advancing his campaign’s original plans to return federal powers to state governments. Trump’s plan to shut down the Education Department was outlined in Project 2025, stating that the federal government would eliminate Title I, Title VI and Title IX support, which ensure students receive equal access to a proper education regardless of their financial situation, race, ethnicity, sex or gender identity.
The federal Department of Education has been viewed as a failure by Republicans for years, with Trump’s campaign bringing this belief to the forefront of American politics. Some regard the Department of Education as a waste of government funds, citing historical lows in reading and math scores. The federal government spends billions of dollars on the Department of Education, but the Nation’s Report Card still shows that fourth and eighth-grade reading test scores have been plummeting since 2022.
The Department of Education is frequently regarded by conservatives as a waste of government funding and has been targeted for years in order to return all legislation over education to the states. The order has consistently been described as a return to state power by both Trump and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
“Education is fundamentally a state responsibility,” McMahon said in her press release statement. “Instead of filtering resources through layers of federal red tape, we will empower states to take charge and advocate for and implement what is best for students, families and educators in their communities.”
Allowing states to regulate and govern their education systems would allow them to make decisions depending on individual state’s values and standards and meet the needs of students specific to the state. For example, according to the Professional Educators of Tennessee, the average Tennessee citizen would prefer their education system be controlled by the local government rather than the federal government. Removing overarching federal power could increase state power, allowing them to manage their funding and decisions.
Though many Republicans and Trump supporters view the shift from federal to state power as a step in the right direction, others are concerned about what this means for school districts nationwide as the federal Department of Education weakens. The National Education Association has voiced its concerns about how the order will affect diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in schools, especially after Trump’s executive order passed in January targeting DEI in the federal government.
“Americans did not vote for and do not support ending the federal government’s commitment to ensuring equal educational opportunities for every child,” NEA President Becky Pringle said in an article concerning the impacts of the executive order on students.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, around 63% of public schools are eligible to benefit from Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which provides financial aid to school districts with at least 40% of enrolled students coming from low-income families. Title I programs are funded by the federal government through the Department of Education. However, with Trump’s executive order, the department will lose administrative manpower, which could hinder its ability to continue funding schools.
As stated in the executive order, Trump is not planning on directly cutting existing funding to schools, but student loan borrowers are also concerned about whether or not they will be able to receive money for college because of the order. National Student Legal Defense Network President Aaron Ament has criticized this aspect of the order, arguing in a statement on March 19 that it will be inefficient and unhelpful to college students who rely on government loans.
“This executive order won’t do anything to improve the lives of students or student loan borrowers,” Ament said. “The notion that the Department can be summarily closed or functionally decimated while maintaining ‘uninterrupted delivery of services, programs and benefits on which Americans rely’—as the order reportedly directs—is a pipe dream.”
The dismantling of the Department of Education could also impact minority students, especially those of color. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that establishments that rely on public funding, such as school districts, may not encourage or practice discrimination against anyone based on their race or ethnicity.
However, since the executive order that banned DEI, federally funded programs, such as school districts, are not allowed to utilize DEI initiatives that benefit minority students. This could increase discrimination toward minority students as well as disenfranchise them even further than before, especially considering the possible funding cuts as a result of the weakening Education Department.
Programs that benefit disadvantaged students are likely to lose funding capabilities as well. For example, the Department of Education sends funding to schools so that they can have functioning special education programs under the jurisdiction of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Without a centralized Department of Education, IDEA may not be able to be enforced efficiently. Although funding to the department is not directly being cut, it will likely be more difficult for them to be approved and applied without as direct a connection to the federal government.
The Office of Indian Education, for example, is also threatened by the executive order. The Bureau of Indian Education will remain in service, as it is under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior, but the OIE is a direct branch of the Department of Education, which means that it will likely lose power and federal funding. The OIE provides financial aid to Native American students who often cannot afford things like ACT tests, college tuition or even just graduation gowns, especially those who live on reservations. Without a functioning Education Department, many Native American students could be left without the financial aid that they rely on.
Fully dismantling the Department of Education cannot be done by an executive order alone. Abolishing a federal department requires an act of Congress, which is unlikely to happen because past bipartisan support for a strong education system in the United States has defended the Department of Education.
The House of Representatives rejected an amendment that would eliminate the department last year, Republicans being a significant number of voters who opposed the bill. Trump would need a majority of these Republican representatives to vote in favor of abolishing the department, which is unlikely based on their previous standpoints.
As the federal government works to dismantle the Department of Education, some people support the push for the states’ control over their own respective education systems. Meanwhile, some educators and students criticize the order because they fear that the education system will not be up to their standards. As it is now, only time will reveal the fate of the Department of Education and the impacts of the decision on American students and educators.
Contact Emma Lynch at [email protected]
Emma Lynch • Apr 28, 2025 at 3:32 pm
Omg this article is heat!!!!!