Reports indicate that President Donald Trump intends to sign an Executive Order aimed at restructuring the Department of Education. Trump is expected to sign the order on Thursday, instructing the new Education Secretary Linda McMahon to commence the restructuring process. This move to potentially dismantle the department is consistent with the key themes of Trump’s second term. Spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency [DOGE], under the guidance of Elon Musk, the President has been actively working to reduce the size of the government through significant budget cuts and funding freezes across various sectors.
On March 11th, news emerged that 50% of the Department of Education’s staff is slated for layoffs, as part of what is being termed its “final mission,” with a statement indicating that “impacted department staff will be placed on administrative leave beginning Friday, March 21st.”
In early March, Jonathan E. Collins, an assistant professor of political science and education at Columbia University’s Teachers College, told TIME: “We’re likely to continue seeing the trends we’ve observed under the Trump Administration, which involve significantly reducing the department’s activities and essentially turning it into a mere shell of its former self.”
Amidst concerns and uncertainties about the future under the Trump Administration, here’s an overview of the Department of Education’s history and its current functions:
When was the Department of Education established?
The Department of Education’s history dates back to 1867, when the first department with this name was . At that time, its mandate was different, primarily focused on collecting data about schools and sharing best practices in education. Concerns about the department’s potential overreach in schools led to its downgrading to an Office of Education under different agencies.
The modern Department of Education was created by Congress in 1979 in response to calls for increased federal funding for education and “national efforts to help racial minorities, women, people with disabilities, and non-English speaking students gain equal access to education,”
How big is the Department of Education?
As of last September, the Department of Education had approximately 4,200 employees, , representing about 0.2% of the total federal workforce last year—making it the smallest among the 15 Cabinet agencies.
What does the Department of Education do?
The Department of Education currently has a wide array of responsibilities and oversees numerous offices, including Federal Student Aid (FSA), the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).
Through the FSA, the Department of Education manages the $1.693 trillion in outstanding federal student loans, along with various student aid programs like the Pell Grant and work-study programs. The department is the for college students.
The department also provides 13.6% of the funding for public K-12 education, according to the , distributing funds through programs like Title I—which provides supplemental financial aid to school districts/schools with a high proportion of students from low-income families—as well as grants under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which provides funds to districts for serving and teaching students with disabilities, and grants for initiatives such as adult rehabilitation services.
The department on educational facilities nationwide and ensures in federally funded schools, including and .