On March 20th, 2025, sitting President Donald Trump signed an executive order dismantling the Department of Education. While this executive order cannot fully shut down the 46-year-old department without congressional approval, this decision will soon begin to impact the lives of educators, students and families. President Trump has stated that some forms of funds and programs will be redistributed to different agencies, but a majority of programs will be cut, and those jobs will be further released.
The Department of Education started in 1979, with then President Jimmy Carter signing the Department of Education Organization Act, and this law was implemented to assure accessible and fair education for all. This agency focused on promoting equal access to education, regardless of race, gender and sexual orientation, providing federal aid such as pell grants and distributing loans, funding programs for low income families and schools through programs such as Title 1 or free lunch programs, but also advancing research within learning and statistical operations. Now, most of these programs have been either handed off to the authority of the states, or have been redistributed to different federal agencies. Previous to President Trump’s executive order, the Department of Education had already laid off close to 2000 workers in preparation, but now the numbers are uncertain.
The future for what is to come for educators and students is unknown. With the rights of education now in the hands of the state, this decision will make our country even more vulnerable to political division.
