A Guide To What The U S Education Department Does And Doesn T Do

Leo Migdal

-Dec 3, 2025, 5:25 AM

a guide to what the u s education department does and doesn t do

Over and over, President Donald Trump and his colleagues have pointed to the U.S. Education Department as a poster child for government overreach. In fact, Republicans have been calling for the department's dissolution ever since its birth. That effort reached a new level this week, as the president began exploring dramatic cuts to programs and staff at the department, including an executive action shuttering programs that are not protected by law... Which raises the question: What, exactly, does the Education Department do? Created by Congress in 1979, the department employs more than 4,000 people and has an annual budget of $79 billion.

Many of its responsibilities were given to it by lawmakers. (The U.S. Constitution doesn't actually mention a federal role in education.) Here's a look at what the Education Department does and doesn't do – and how much of it is protected by acts of Congress: Over its 45-year history, the U.S. Department of Education has persistently increased its power over American K-12 education.

Then, on March 20, 2025, President Trump ordered the end of Education Department dominance, issuing an executive order entitled “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities.” As Secretary McMahon has said, it... But these worries are based on misunderstandings about what the Department actually does for K-12 education, and what it doesn’t do. As the bureaucracy gets dismantled, it’s worth unpacking the Department’s role—and why American education will be better off when it’s gone. One common misunderstanding is that the federal Department determines academic standards, curriculum, and instruction in public schools. That is not the case. Those are state and local responsibilities.

In fact, federal law explicitly prohibits the Department from any “direction, supervision, or control” of curriculum or instruction.Americans might understandably think the Department does set curriculum, because they remember how the Obama Administration nudged... Those standards regrettably led many districts to adopt unpopular curriculum and instructional methods. The resulting outcry led Congress to reinforce its prohibitions against the Department influencing curriculum.While the Department does not influence curriculum and instruction, it does supplement the money spent on local schools, targeting economically disadvantaged... Even after Congress eliminates the Department, it will certainly continue to appropriate funds for those students. Another misconception: teacher shortages are the federal government’s fault. But the federal Department plays no role in certifying teachers, hiring them, or setting their salaries and benefits.

All of that is done by states and local districts; they make the everyday rules for K-12 educators and staff.Congress has asked the Department to manage one program aimed at raising teacher quality and... Most of this ESEA Title II-A money has gone toward typical professional development programs, even though Congress does allow districts to use the funds in other ways. Sadly, Title II-A programs have not improved teacher effectiveness much, if at all.If Congress wants to get better results for its Title II appropriation, they could roll it into a block grant and let... Or, if they want to continue sequestering some funds for addressing teacher effectiveness, Congress could divide the amount among every teacher in the country as a stipend and, treating them like professionals, let them... We don’t need an Education Department bureaucracy for either of those approaches. A persistent misunderstanding is that the Department of Education mandates health policies such as vaccines for students and educators.

Recently, for example, CNN’s Dana Bash, in an interview of Secretary McMahon, implied that the Secretary was somehow in control of whether schools and colleges require certain vaccines for students with special needs.Vaccine requirements... Other federal agencies do provide advice to state and local governments, but they rely on those local agencies to manage health responses. This is good practice, both governmentally and epidemiologically, given that local context matters and diseases can impact various regions differently.Again, prior Department officials might have caused misunderstandings about their role in health policy. President Biden’s Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, for example, vocally advocated for state mandates compelling COVID-19 vaccines for all children. His heavy-handed approach mirrored President Biden’s sweeping executive order on COVID-19 vaccines, which required 100 million Americans to get vaccinated, while he pressed governors to mandate vaccines for all teachers. These aggressive tactics sowed confusion about the statutory role of the Education Department.

If students need a vaccine or other type of health intervention, local health officials can make that determination. It is not, and should not be, the job of the Department of Education to set vaccine schedules. Over and over, President Donald Trump and his colleagues have pointed to the U.S. Education Department as a poster child for government overreach. In fact, Republicans have been calling for the department’s dissolution ever since its birth. That effort reached a new level this week, as the president began exploring dramatic cuts to programs and staff at the department, including an executive action shuttering programs that are not protected by law...

Which raises the question: What, exactly, does the Education Department do? The U.S. Department of Education has been a subject of political debate since its creation in 1980. “It's the one whose status has been most tenuous from the inception. So the recent calls we've heard to eliminate the Department of Education have really been a constant feature of its history from the moment it was created,” says Professor Martin West, an expert in... He explains that the DoEd, established in 1980 under President Jimmy Carter, was politically motivated but also aimed at consolidating federal education efforts.

Despite its relatively small financial footprint — contributing less than 10% of K–12 funding — it plays a key role in distributing federal funds, enforcing civil rights laws, and conducting educational research. In speaking with West, before news reports that the Trump Administration was drafting an executive order to eliminate the department, he noted that some view the DoEd as essential for ensuring equal access to... “I think debates over the status of the department and speculation over the department status are largely a distraction from the real debates over the scope and substance of federal education policy,” West says. “The status of the department is largely a question of bureaucratic organization and is not particularly substantive. The real question is whether the federal government has a useful and valid role to play in K–12 education.” In this episode, we discuss the Department of Education’s responsibilities, the misconceptions surrounding its influence, and the historical and political forces that have shaped its existence.

We also explore the feasibility of eliminating the department and what such a move would mean for schools, educators, and students across the country. Why now: The president and his colleagues have pointed to the U.S. Education Department as a poster child for government overreach. In fact, Republicans have been calling for the department's dissolution ever since its birth. Keep reading... for a look at what the Education Department does and doesn't do — and how much of it is protected by acts of Congress.

Over and over, President Donald Trump and his colleagues have pointed to the U.S. Education Department as a poster child for government overreach. In fact, Republicans have been calling for the department's dissolution ever since its birth. That effort reached a new level this week, as the president began exploring dramatic cuts to programs and staff at the department, including an executive action shuttering programs that are not protected by law... Which raises the question: What, exactly, does the Education Department do? When people in the US hear the word “education,” they often think of lessons in classrooms, public schools, and textbooks.

But the US Department of Education is working behind the scenes to change how education is done across the country. The Education Department (commonly called “ED”) doesn’t directly run schools or write your textbooks, but it has a big impact on everything from student loans to civil rights protections in the classroom. In this post, we’ll explain what this department really does, where it comes from, what its goals are, and how it’s set up to help millions of Americans get an education. In fact, the U.S. Department of Education is a rather new agency. President Jimmy Carter signed a legislation on October 17, 1979, that officially separated education from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Before that, different government agencies were in charge of different parts of education, which caused confusion and overlap. Carter thought that education should get its own attention, like a whole federal agency. But not everyone was on board. Some others were worried that the federal government would have too much power over local schools. Supporters, on the other hand, said that making education a Cabinet-level issue conveyed a clear message: learning is important, and the federal government should help it. The Department’s motto, although may sound a little grand, is a perfect fit for its goal.

The Department of Education wants all students, no matter their color, religion, or socioeconomic status, to have the same chance to achieve. It wants to help kids do well in a competitive world by closing inequalities in fairness, encouraging school innovation, and making sure that education prepares kids for more than just standardized tests. This involves helping students attain their full academic potential and giving them the confidence, knowledge, and resources they need to do successfully in college, at employment, and in life after graduation. The Department of Education (Education Department, ED) is a cabinet-level executive branch agency responsible for overseeing education policy and administering funding for programs and individuals. The department's functions include supporting state and local education systems, promoting educational equity for all students, and providing grants and loans to higher education institutions and students. It was established in 1980 after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was reorganized into separate entities.

Share of ED net spending compared to the top ten highest spending agencies in FY 2024 Subscribe to stay informed about DOGE and federal spending Yearly federal net spending by ED, adjusted for inflation (2024 dollars), FYs 1980–2024 Percentage of federal budget dedicated to ED, FYs 1980–2024 On the Tuesday, December 2, 2025 episode of The Excerpt podcast: Trump’s latest Education Department moves target some of the agency's most important programs. From Title I to special education to student aid, we break down what’s moving, what’s staying and what the changes mean for millions of students.

Zach Schermele joins USA TODAY's The Excerpt to unpack it all. Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here President Donald Trump's quest to dismantle the Department of Education went into high gear late last month, with six interagency agreements that redistributed longstanding functional areas of the department.

Well, Congress finally caved in and let Trump abolish the ED. Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025. Here to help me dig into all of the changes at the Education Department, now joined by USA Today Congress reporter, Zach Schermele. Thanks so much for coming back, Zach.

A Guide To What The U S Education Department Does And Doesn T Do

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