President Donald Trump’s order calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Education Department has complex implications.
The Republican president has argued the federal office hasn’t improved student outcomes and is unnecessary in a country where states and local districts primarily control education from funding to hiring and curriculum.
For decades, right-wing activists have called for eliminating the agency, which was created by Congress in 1979. As Trump remakes the federal government, he has assailed the department as wasteful and responsible for spreading “woke” ideas such as programs to support diversity, equity and inclusion and protections for transgender students.
The department has been largely responsible for oversight, enforcing discrimination laws and distributing aid money for schools with low-income students and students with disabilities. Federal funding makes up a relatively small portion of public school budgets, roughly 14%.
President Trump has ordered the dismantling of the Education Department. Here’s what it does.
What Trump’s order means for American children and teachers
In the short term, students, teachers and parents likely won’t see much impact. Long term, it’s harder to predict.
It depends how Education Secretary Linda McMahon distributes the mandated functions of the department to other parts of government, including the states.
The biggest question is how the states will distribute the federal money the department sends to help educate students who are poor, disabled or still learning English and need extra support. School systems with weak property tax bases, including those in rural areas, depend on that money to pay teachers, pay for buses and buy classroom technology.
States such as Mississippi and Alaska depend on this money to fund more than 20% of school districts’ costs. Advocates worry that without federal oversight, state leaders could spend the money on anything they want, including vouchers to attend private school.
What about student loans? Should college hopefuls still fill out the FAFSA?
Cuts the Trump administration has made already to the Education Department have eliminated hundreds of staff members and contracts dedicated to maintaining the Free Application for Student Aid, or FAFSA, website and helping users navigate the complicated form. But McMahon has said the federal programs will be maintained.
On Friday, Trump said the Small Business Administration would take over the $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio. Conservatives, including former Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, have talked about setting up a quasi-private bank to administer loans.
Users should expect some hiccups. The StudentAid.gov website was down for several hours last week as the remaining department staff tried to troubleshoot an outage.
Will public schools still feed children meals?
School meal programs are funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture so they are not affected by Trump’s move to eliminate the Education Department. However, the USDA has cut a $1 billion coronavirus pandemic-era measure that helped schools and food banks to buy local farm-fresh food.
How soon could the Education Department go away?
States and other organizations are vowing to bring lawsuits to halt the dismantling of the department, which could slow things down.
Eliminating the department entirely would require an act of Congress. Republicans in Congress are planning legislation to eliminate the agency, but they face heavy opposition from Democrats.
In the meantime, Trump still has plans for the department. Even as he ordered its closure, Trump has tasked the department with rooting out and punishing schools that have diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
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