President Trump and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon have announced more cuts to the Department of Education, with the intent of eliminating the department. Education is primarily a state and local responsibility. So just what do they do at the federal level?
The department’s allocation was $238 billion in fiscal year 2024 – less than 2% of the total federal budget. The agency had about 4,400 employees, the smallest of any cabinet-level department. At this time, the Trump administration has laid off about half the department.
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter signed a bill creating the Department of Education. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was divided into Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (DHHS) in 1980. The idea was that each of these areas had so many responsibilities that it would be more efficient to separate them into two agencies.
The ED agency’s key functions include:
• Disbursing billions in student loans each year
• Operating the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which allows students to apply for loans, grants and other college aid
• Providing funding to help poor and disabled students enrolled in K-12 schools
• Ensuring equal access to education through its Office of Civil Rights
• Operating the Pell grant program, which provides qualifying low- and middle-income students with up to $7,400 per year to attend college
• Assisting states in funding public charter schools and specialized programs like Career and Technical Education
• Overseeing the college accreditation system by reviewing all federally recognized accrediting agencies
• Collecting data on education and student outcomes, from early to higher education
• Supporting research in education to find the most effective teaching methods
Low-income students hoping to go to college or enroll in vocational programs fill out the FAFSA to determine their eligibility for scholarships, grants, or federally-guaranteed loans. FAFSA is completed by about 17 million students every year. The college loan portfolio is currently $1.5 trillion. Some other agency would have to pick up the responsibility of managing these funds and the repayment of student loans. According to Project 2025, the most logical destination is the Treasury Department.
Much of the Education Department’s money for K-12 schools is funneled through large federal programs. These programs direct resources to low-income schools and to specific programs within schools. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funds go to schools to support students with disabilities and the services they desperately need. It has been suggested that those functions could be transferred to DHHS.
The collection of data and the measuring of student progress – could it really be moved to Census?
The department enforces civil rights laws designed to prevent race or sex-based discrimination in schools. Can this be transferred to the Justice Department?
These programs are important enough that somebody has to provide them. If all responsibilities for education are shifted to states, that means a significant increase in our local taxes.
It is difficult for me to believe that it would be more efficient to move all these functions to other departments, or to shift them to states. There are valid reasons why Congress established each of them, and why the Education Department was created as a separate agency. Laying off over 2000 people from roles where they have expertise in such things as Special Education and civil rights guidance doesn’t make sense. It’s not as if that work doesn’t have to be done.
The department’s primary responsibilities are funding for low-income schools, special education for disabled students, loans for low-income college students, and guidance for schools on civil rights. Abandoning any of these responsibilities would harm students and families – and our nation’s economic future.