The Trump admin is seeking to shut down the Education Department
Image: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
The Education Department cut its workforce roughly in half this week, in a move Education Secretary Linda McMahon said represents the first step toward shuttering the department entirely.
Catch up quick: The Education Department (ED), with ~4,500 employees as of last year, is the smallest cabinet-level federal agency. It carries a wide range of responsibilities, including managing the US government’s $1.6+ trillion student loan portfolio, providing tens of billions of dollars in annual funding for schools and colleges (or ~10% of K-12 public schools’ funding), and enforcing non-discrimination policies in schools.
The arguments
Trump and other Republicans have criticized the ED for a range of issues, chief among them being little progress – or outright declines – in US students’ learning outcomes since it was created in 1979.
Other criticisms stem from wanting states to have full control over their education systems, from claims that the ED is indoctrinating students on “woke” cultural issues, and from a belief that many ED functions could be handled by other US agencies.
- Many Democrats who support the ED argue it plays a vital oversight role in America’s public education system, while still allowing states to set their own educational agendas.
- They also say any large cuts to the department’s operations would disproportionately impact lower-income families and people who experience discrimination.
The cuts are already facing legal pushback. Democratic attorneys general from 20 states filed a lawsuit yesterday claiming the Trump administration’s mass firing of ED staff amounts to “an effective dismantling of the Department” – which, by law, must be approved by Congress, since it first established the agency.
Looking ahead…Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate. But in the event of a future vote, GOP lawmakers would be hard-pressed to win enough Democratic support to overcome the 60-vote Senate filibuster and completely unwind the Education Department.
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Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that the Education Department – though by no means perfect – plays a vital role in ensuring all states provide a decent education to children, and offers the most efficient way to pursue high-quality education for all.
- Others contend that the Education Department has failed spectacularly to improve US students’ education outcomes, and that restoring control of education to the states isn’t necessarily wrong or misguided.
- “Why do we need the Education Department? It’s simple.” –Washington Post Editorial Board
- “What would it mean if the US Department of Education is abolished?” –Paul Vallas, Chicago Tribune
- “The Department of Education’s History Shows It is Essential” –Mallory Hutchings-Tryon, TIME
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that the Education Department takes no part in the daily, hard-fought grind of teaching; instead, its only job is to act as the keeper for federal funding, a power it wields as a weapon to reward “good” behavior.
- Others contend that centralizing responsibility for schools with the federal government has caused entire generations to fall behind academically, in large part because Washington-based institutions have been captured by the public school teachers unions.
- “Trump’s School Choice” –Kimberley A. Strassel, Wall Street Journal
- “Goodbye Department of Education, hello new educational options” –Washington Times Editorial Board
- “Trump should eliminate Education Department. Get bureaucrats out of our schools.” –Nicole Russell, USA Today
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