Eliminating the US Department of Education will do more Damage than You Realize
Note: This was originally printed as an OpEd in Dogwood. Please click here to view.
We were warned by Project 2025 that there were plans to drastically cut or terminate the U.S. Department of Education (ED). As of February 7, 2025, the President is reportedly drafting his Executive Order to dismantle the ED and is seeking coordination with Congress in order to make the closure a reality. Now there is a bill in Congress to terminate the ED, and the ED is being threatened with a hostile takeover.
More than ever we must recognize and protect the ED based on the value it brings to our nation. The alternative is to let federal funds that are appropriated for public education “be block granted to states without strings.”
The federal government makes a relatively small monetary contribution to the public education budget for states (about 13.6%), but the ED plays a critical role in providing education support, expertise, and oversight to each state. Most of the funding for public education comes from state and local budgets, which is why currently there is such inequity among public school systems across the country.
The ED is highly valued by most Americans, as was shown in a recent poll. Education is one of the public policy issues that the “public says the government is spending too little on.” Many of the programs administered by the ED are not only highly popular, but implement specific laws Congress has mandated, so to date there has been little support for dismantling the department and terminating existing education programs.
Roles of the ED include administration of special education programs and those for underserved students and communities. Among the programs slated for termination are:
Title 1, which is the largest source of federal funding for public schools, and provides money for states to distribute to schools with the lowest income families and thus the highest need.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which ensures that children with learning and physical disabilities receive an education.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which dictates that states provide every child with a quality education as a right.
Title 1 of the ESSA supplements state and local funding in school districts with high concentrations of underserved families with children in K-12 public schools, including families with low-income backgrounds, English Language Learners, and other traditionally underserved populations. There are significant disparities in funding and education resources among school districts with high-poverty schools receiving less total funding even with the federal contribution. This is even while children living in poverty tend to have greater educational needs. Evidence shows that school funding matters for student outcomes. Without the more equitable distribution of resources provided through Title I, systematic disadvantages will increase for low-income families. Although educators recognize that aspects of this Act’s accountability measures need updating, this information is necessary for effective policy development and targeting of funds to low income schools and communities
Students with disabilities and learning challenges are particularly vulnerable to reductions in education funding. The ED provides expertise, resources, and oversight for implementation of laws such as the IDEA that serves these students. Every student has the right to a free and quality education and the ED provides the individual support necessary for any student with a disability. The ED guides the creation of individualized education plans (IDP) and administers these plans for the many and complex learning needs of students with disabilities and learning challenges. It is unlikely that this expertise and support can be provided at the local level for many if any states.
Another important role of the ED is protection of students’ civil rights. Currently, public school systems are responsible for operating safe and welcoming environments for all students. The ED holds schools accountable when students’ civil rights are violated. Project 2025 calls for reducing these protections for students and also calls for narrowing or eliminating aid programs.
In addition to closure of the ED itself, the administration is proposing that public school funds be mandated in every state to be directed to private schools. The proposal to redirect public school funds to private schools via education scholarships or vouchers is unworkable because all students have a right to an education but private schools are not required to admit students with disabilities, or any other student they don’t want to educate. Public schools may not discriminate.
If funds allocated for public education go to private school scholarships, underfunded public schools will be left to educate students who are not accepted by private schools. Furthermore, school scholarships generally will not cover all of private school tuition, so only wealthy families will be able to use the scholarships. Meanwhile it is unlikely that adequate resources and expertise will be available in the schools that become underfunded due to the redirection of federal funds. Note: this can be a dire consequence in rural areas because private schools are not required to provide transportation to students.
It is not just K-12 public schools that are potentially at risk with proposed changes to the ED. Students in higher education also are vulnerable. Because the ED manages the student debt portfolio, millions of students would not be able to borrow money to go to college or would be forced to take on private loans with higher interest rates and more onerous repayment plans. Oversight by the ED provides consumer protection for all borrowers. Eliminating this support and oversight could cause disastrous results for college students and their families.
In addition to helping financially, the ED administers other programs that help students finish college. These include providing aid and technical assistance to minority and traditionally underserved students and under-resourced institutions. Termination or severe cutbacks of the ED could cause students to accrue even more debt and have more difficulty repaying their loans. Minority-serving and under-resourced institutions could be seriously affected and their ability to provide a quality education to their students could be jeopardized.
Previous attempts to terminate the ED have failed – once under President Reagan and again during President Trump’s first administration. With the current conservative trifecta in the federal government there is a greater chance of attacks on the ED being successful. All who recognize the importance and value of education must be ready to push back against the proposal for its termination.
Please consider calling your Representative and two senators and tell their legislative assistants that you object to the dismantling of the Department of Education. Here is a link to where you can find their contact information.
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