In the wake of this week’s mass layoffs at the Department of Education and an impending Executive Order to abolish the agency altogether, we thought it would be helpful to offer a few truths about DOE:
It can’t be dissolved without Congress: Under our current (previous?) system of government, the President cannot unilaterally dissolve any federal agency or department — only Congress can do this. Twenty states and the District of Columbia argue in a new lawsuit that the mass layoffs at the Department of Education are part of an unlawful plan to by President Donald Trump to abolish the department.
Lawmakers have been UNDERINVESTING in education: Even before firing half of its staff, the Department of Education was the smallest Cabinet-level agency. The Department benefitted from temporary education stabilization funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, but funding has dropped dramatically since then, with lawmakers chipping away at the nation’s education budget for the last two fiscal years. Education funding made up less than 1.4% of the total federal budget in FY 2024, a decline of nearly 4.5% from the prior year. See “Education,” Children’s Budget 2024 for more details.
The states ALREADY control curriculum: Proponents of abolishing DOE argue that the move will return power to the states. But states and school districts already control curriculum and determination of requirements. State and local governments also provide most of the funding for K-12 public education.
VOUCHERS are not the answer: Research has shown that school vouchers leave children less educated. Congress, therefore, must fight any attempt to create a national school voucher scheme like the one outlined in President Trump’s Agenda 47.
Abolishing the Department puts children at risk: The Department of Education is the one-and-only federal agency committed exclusively to children and its Secretary is the only Cabinet official dedicated to focusing solely on their needs. Here are a few ways DOE protects the nation’s kids:
- DOE is responsible for flagging and offering funding and guidance on challenges in the system, such as the youth mental health crisis.
- DOE is the most reliable reporter of homelessness among American students, and keeps Congress apprised of new trends and research on this and many other issues that disrupt student success.
- The Department of Education enforces federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in school activities that receive federal funding. Under the Biden Administration the Office of Civil Rights logged the most productive four years in its history. Unsurprisingly, this week’s layoffs specifically targeted the Office of Civil Rights.
- DOE provides vital grants and funding to underserved student groups.
Redistributing the functions of the Department of Education to the states or other federal agencies will likely lower academic accomplishment nationwide and increase the income, racial and ability divides that already challenge our students.
In an age of book bans, speech codes, the whitewashing of history and science, and anti-LGBTQ+, anti-diversity movements, these functions have never been more important. Perhaps that is the very reason the Administration is targeting DOE for destruction.