The Consequences of Dismantling the Education Department

In a historic move on March 21, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling to dismantle the United States Department of Education. This came after last week’s lay-offs, when more than 1,300 workers were cut, removing half of the department’s staffing.

Established in 1979 under the “Department of Education Organization Act,” the modern-day Department of Education is “the agency of the federal government that establishes policy for, administers and coordinates most federal assistance to education,” according to the department’s website.

Under the Carter administration, the department’s mission was to bolster “national efforts to help racial minorities, women, people with disabilities and non-English speaking students gain equal access to education.” These efforts come in the form of federal funding and services across K-12 and higher education. Some examples include Title I funding, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act enforcement and Federal Student Aid which oversees student loans, the Pell Grant and work study programs.

According to the Education Data Initiative, the federal government provides 13.6% of funding for public K-12 education. New York ranks first in the nation for federal funding, receiving 9.70% of all U.S. public school funding.

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon released a statement on March 20 in reaction to the executive order, stating, “Education is fundamentally a state responsibility. 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.”

Motivations for the department’s dismantlement are part of larger efforts to dismantle federal bureaucracy, giving power to state governments. Recent discussions can be traced to the COVID-19 pandemic, when right-leaning and right-wing critics argued against school shutdowns and mask policies. Recently, the energy has shifted towards attacking diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and “gender ideology.” The executive order mentions this directly, stating that it will terminate federal assistance of “illegal discrimination obscured under the label ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ or similar terms and programs promoting gender ideology.” 

Many raise concerns surrounding the relocation of the department’s functions and the losses that will incur for students, parents and teachers dependent on these services. Significant cuts are already being made, including the termination of the department’s Office of Civil Rights which severely reduced federal oversight on civil rights. This leaves “millions of students without crucial protections against discrimination based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, LGBT status, disability and age,” according to the ACLU.

Dean for the School of Education at SUNY New Paltz Rene Parmar commented on this change, stating, “Specifically for candidates who are preparing to be educators, we feel that the impacts are going to be, first and foremost, losing an advocacy voice at the national level that really forefronts education.”

Certain functions of the department are being relocated to other agencies. Trump announced that the federal student loan portfolio — estimated to amount to $1.6 trillion for about 43 million people — will be moved to the Small Business Administration. It is unclear as of now where the rest of the Office of Federal Student Aid will be relocated to.

SUNY New Paltz Director of Financial Aid Maureen Lohan-Bremer cited concerns over the bandwidth of the FSA and its ability to help students moving forward, stating “students who have a situation where they need to get in touch with somebody at the Department of Education for assistance, or a school that needs assistance with a matter regarding the department, they may not get immediate assistance.” Lohan-Bremer emphasized that the financial aid office “is prepared to assist and address any concerns that a student brings in.”

In addition to the relocation of student loans, oversight over IDEA, which provides $15 billion in funding for special education services, is being transferred from the Secretary of Education to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy. The details of this transfer are still unknown.

Regarding IDEA, Parmar said, “We have teacher education candidates who have special needs as well. Maybe there are mobility needs, maybe there are learning needs, maybe there are needs in supporting them in their professional journey, and we look to IDEA support to help us support those candidates better. And all of our candidates in the field support students in K-12 education who have special education needs. Our programs prepare them for that kind of work.”

Though an executive order was passed, only Congress maintains the power to shut down the Education Department. Right-wing congressmembers plan to propose legislation to accomplish just that. Opposition from Democratic leaders and additional lawsuits, such as one filed by the NAACP, can slow the process down, but work to limit the agency’s authority and power is already in motion. 

Earlier in March, the Department of Education launched an investigation against 52 universities across the country, accusing them of using “racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities.” The Education Department alleged that 45 schools’ graduate programs violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act in partnering with The PhD Project, a nonprofit organization with the goal of “creating more role models in the front of business classrooms,” according to their website.

SUNY Chancellor John B. King commented on the dismantlement, stating, “Education is at the foundation of the health of our economy and our democracy, and in both Republican and Democratic administrations the U.S. Department of Education has served a vital role protecting our students and championing their needs. The Department is responsible for funding for schools serving high needs students (Title I), services for students with disabilities (IDEA), the Pell grant program, which has helped generations of low-income students go to college, and protecting students against discrimination (OCR).”

King continued, “Efforts to eliminate the U.S. Education Department are deeply misguided and will harm students, and I remain hopeful that members of Congress on both sides of the aisle will stand up for the sake of students across the country.”

Despite the uncertainty that exists for future educators, Parmar encourages students interested in teaching to stick with it. “We continue to do the work; we continue to prioritize our students and do everything we can to give them an excellent quality education. We’re going to keep doing that.”