The Trump administration is taking bold steps to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, signaling a major shift in the nation’s approach to schooling. The White House announced the plan on Tuesday, part of President Donald Trump’s push to shrink the federal government’s role in education and give states more control.
As part of the plan, the department will form new partnerships with the Departments of Labor, Interior, and Health and Human Services to handle some of its current functions. In a press release, the department said this approach will “streamline federal education activities, reduce administrative burdens, and refocus programs to better serve students and grantees.”
Trump first signaled his intentions in March, promising conservatives that he would deliver on his campaign pledge to close the department.
“We’re going to be returning education, very simply, back to the states where it belongs,” Trump said, signing an executive order to close the department “to the maximum extent allowed by law.”
Created by Congress in 1979, the Department of Education currently administers college loans, tracks student achievement, enforces civil rights in schools, and provides federal funding to districts with high numbers of needy children and students with disabilities.
Federal law prevents the department from controlling school operations such as curriculum, teaching methods, and staffing—decisions that remain in the hands of state and local governments, which provide over 85% of public school funding.
Republicans have long criticized the department as a symbol of bureaucratic waste, arguing that education should be led by states rather than Washington. This move underscores the administration’s vision of a smaller federal government and stronger state control in shaping America’s schools.
