Washington, D.C. – March 20, 2025
President Trump signed Executive Order Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities on March 20, 2025, aimed at significantly reducing the U.S. Department of Education (ED). This Executive Action is in keeping with President Trump’s campaign promise to eliminate the federal Department of Education and resembles the recommendations put forth in Project 2025.
What’s at Stake?
The Department of Education’s elementary and secondary programs serve 50.8 million students across 98,000 public schools alone, accounting for just under 90% of the United States’ K-12 student population. The Department of Education also provides grants, loans, and work-study assistance to more than 12 million postsecondary students.
Eliminating programs of the ED or shifting them to other federal agencies reduces the resources available for all state and local educational agencies. Shrinking the Departments means that states will not receive additional funds to bolster their public K-12 and higher education systems. In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. Department of Education funded education for:
- 26 million low-income students
- 10 million rural students
- 5 million English language learners
- 7 million students with disabilities
- 1 million homeless students
This would affect most K-12 students across the country.
What does the Executive Order mean?
Eliminating the Department of Education requires Congressional approval from both chambers; therefore, this Executive Order (EO) can only seek to reduce the size of the Department by reallocating funding for programs to other agencies or federal departments, cutting programs not required by law to be administered by the Department, or eliminating jobs. The EO requires the Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to take the following actions:
- “To the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely” and,
- “Ensure that the allocation of any Federal Department of Education funds is subject to rigorous compliance with Federal law and Administration policy, including the requirement that any program or activity receiving Federal assistance terminate illegal discrimination obscured under the label “diversity, equity, and inclusion” or similar terms and programs promoting gender ideology.”
This EO comes on the heels of the reduction of the Department’s workforce by 50% in early March. In essence, the Administration is already well underway in implementing the EO. The Trump Administration, which has acknowledged that the Executive Branch does not have the authority to eliminate the Department on its own, asserts that the EO is aimed at cutting the “regulations and paperwork” that distract schools from focusing on their “primary role of teaching” and is designed to prevent “uninterrupted delivery [of] services, programs and benefits on which Americans rely.” However, it is difficult to anticipate how these services will continue to be provided at the same level with such significant cuts to personnel and funding. In the lead-up to the EO, spokespeople from the Administration cited recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores as one of the reasons why this EO is necessary. Public opinion, however, does not align with the Administration’s goals. Earlier this year, an NPR/PBS News/Marist poll showed that 63% of Americans oppose the dismantling of the Department of Education, while 37% were favorable to its closure.
What does the U.S. Department of Education Do?
The U.S. Department of Education is the smallest of the cabinet-level departments. Its budget for Fiscal Year 2024 was $79.1 billion, representing only 4% of the total federal budget and providing 21% of total education spending nationwide. With those Congressionally approved dollars, the Department provides funding and administers the following major programs:
- Title I, which provides additional funding to high-poverty elementary and secondary schools ($18.4 billion);
- IDEA, which provides supplemental funding to schools to educate students with disabilities ($15.5 billion);
- Title IV, which authorizes the department to oversee the $1.6 trillion student loan program;
- Career and Technical Education Programs ($ 2.2 billion)
By law, the U.S. Department of Education cannot play a role in designing or disseminating curriculum for K-12 schools or institutions of higher education, nor does it accredit post-secondary institutions.
The Bottom Line
The Executive Order requires Secretary McMahon to diminish the capacity of the Department as quickly as possible, which may be accomplished by cutting offices or moving programs to different departments. This Executive Order is expected to be challenged in court.