FOR THE WEEK OF APR 14, 2025
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The federal Department of Education is among presidential targets as he tries to reduce our national government's size and cost. An executive order tells Education Secretary Linda McMahon to work with Congress on transferring nearly all of her agency's duties to states and local school boards. "Closing the Department of Education would provide children and their families the opportunity to escape a system that is failing them," says the directive Trump signed in late March. "Today, American reading and math scores are near historical lows. . . . The federal education bureaucracy is not working." The effort follows layoffs that cut the department's 4,100-person workforce by nearly half. The administration also cancelled dozens of grants and contracts.
President Trump can't close the department on his own because Congress created it in 1979. President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, signed it into law in the same room where Trump put pen to paper 46 years later. Education has long been a political lightning rod, with conservatives favoring local control over education policy and school-choice options that help private and religious schools. Teachers' unions oppose those efforts and the new targeting. "See you in court," said Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, after Trump's order.
Republican-led efforts to shut the department failed in 2023 and 2024, and Trump apparently lacks support from enough party allies to push through the shutdown that was a pledge while campaigning for a second non-consecutive term. (He also was president from 2017-21.)
Public schools already get most funding from local and state governments, with the federal agency providing about 10% of K-12 school revenues -- including $18.4 billion in annual services for low-income students and $15.4 billion to help cover teacher salaries and other extra expenses for pupils with disabilities. That aid flows more to Republican-leaning states than Democratic ones. The department also supports arts programs, administers college loans and Pell Grants that help low-income students attend college. It's unclear what spending cuts can be achieved without cutting those initiatives. (Education is one of the smallest Cabinet-level departments. Its $268-billion appropriation last year represented 4 percent of the federal budget.)
The White House says it wants to end "tens of billions of dollars wasted on progressive social experiments and obsolete programs," particularly those focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. In the administration's view, "the Department of Education burdens schools with regulations and paperwork." Secretary McMahon says: "Instead of filtering resources through layers of federal red tape, we will empower states to take charge. . . . We're going to follow the law and eliminate the bureaucracy responsibly by working through Congress to ensure a lawful and orderly transition." Essentially, Trump wants the department to come up with a plan for shutting itself. Democrats acknowledge that he could gut the department without congressional action. "He understands that if you fire all the staff and smash it to pieces, you might get a similar, devastating result," says Sen. Patty Murray of Washington State.
President says: "The Department of Education has entrenched the education bureaucracy and sought to convince America that federal control over education is beneficial." – Executive order
Critic says: "This is political theater, not serious public policy." -- Ted Mitchell, a former undersecretary of education who now heads the American Council on Education
Education secretary says: "Closing the department does not mean cutting off funds from those who depend on them. We will continue to support K-12 students, students with special needs, college student borrowers and others who rely on essential programs." – Linda McMahon
Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.