Trump Signs Executive Order to Close Department of Education: What Does It Mean and What Could Happen

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 20 aimed at eliminating the federal Department of Education. With a stroke of the pen, he officially launched a plan to eliminate the 46-year-old agency, writes NBC News.

Photo: Lucas Deaver | Dreamstime.com

Decree does not call for the immediate closure of the department, which would require congressional approval. Instead, it directs Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to states and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of the services, programs, and benefits that Americans rely on.”

Trump said federal Pell grants (a common form of federal financial aid for students), Title I funding, and resources and funds for children with disabilities would be “maintained in their entirety and redistributed to other departments and agencies.” (Title I funding is part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA, which was passed in 1965. It’s designed to support schools with high percentages of low-income students.

The primary goal of Title I is to ensure equal educational opportunity for students, reduce achievement gaps, and help schools where a significant portion of students live in poverty. – Note.)

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Still, the move will inevitably impact key department functions, including managing the federal student loan portfolio, enforcing civil rights in schools and distributing billions of dollars to help low-income and disabled students.

Many important questions about the future of the Department of Education remain unanswered.

What does the Department of Education do?

In 1979, Democratic President Jimmy Carter signed a law making the Department of Education a Cabinet-level agency. Before that, the government had had the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, created during the Eisenhower administration.

Conservatives have been calling for its abolition for more than 40 years—since its inception, in fact. Carter’s successor, President Ronald Reagan, promised to close it just a year after it opened, a call that Republicans have repeated regularly ever since.

The Education Department is one of the smallest at the Cabinet level. Its $268 billion budget last year accounted for 4 percent of the U.S. federal budget. Earlier this month, McMahon announced a plan to cut about half of the department's staff.

Among the agency’s most significant responsibilities is managing the $1,6 trillion federal student loan portfolio for college and other students. The department also distributes billions of dollars in K-12 funding through programs serving more than 50 million students in nearly 100 public and 000 private schools.

That funding includes more than $15 billion for thousands of so-called Title I schools — schools that receive federal funds to support low-income families. It also includes more than $15 billion in funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which provides grants to states to educate these children and ensure their access to free education.

The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights enforces laws preventing discrimination in schools, and the department's Institute of Education Sciences collects data, statistics, and research on student achievement.

However, primary power in education still rests with states and local governments, which fund the bulk of school education and determine the curriculum.

The U.S. Department of Education has no authority over curriculum. It does not set admission or graduation requirements, nor does it influence the selection or use of school and library books, textbooks, or other educational materials.

Schools that receive federal funds under Title I and IDEA must meet certain conditions and adhere to reporting rules. Conservatives have long argued that these requirements are too burdensome and have sought to give states more flexibility in how they spend the money.

What the liquidation of the Department of Education might look like

While Trump can’t completely dismantle the Education Department on his own, McMahon agreed during her confirmation hearing that the administration hopes to present a plan that Congress will support. House Republicans have already proposed several plans to eliminate it. But with Republicans’ narrow margins in the House and Senate, the likelihood of them passing is slim.

However, the administration has other ways to reduce the department's size.

White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said before the order was signed that “critical programs will be protected,” including student loans and federal Pell grants, which will remain under the department’s jurisdiction. In addition, a senior administration official said March 19 that Title I, student loans, and IDEA funding for students with disabilities would not be affected.

Education advocates have long warned that deep cuts to the department would have a significant impact on managing the department's massive student loan portfolio, as well as Title I and IDEA funding.

One possible model for reforming education policy would follow numerous plans that conservatives have proposed over the decades, mostly to shift key department functions to other federal agencies, though some education experts say even those changes would require congressional approval.

One bill introduced in the House in January by Rep. David Rauser, a Republican from North Carolina, would move most of the department's functions to other agencies, such as student loan programs to the Treasury Department and job training programs to the Labor Department.

Project 2025, which proposed eliminating the department entirely, would phase out Title I funding and eliminate student debt forgiveness programs.

Some Republican proposals would reallocate Title I funds, allowing low-income students to use the money to attend private schools.

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In February, a group of senior officials from Republican-controlled states proposed that McMahon give federal school funding in the form of targeted grants with minimal strings attached.

Public education advocates warn that such changes would allow states to funnel federal money to private schools that are not required to comply with civil rights laws in education.

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