US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday (March 20, 2025) calling for the abolishment of the US Department of Education, carrying out a campaign promise to eliminate an agency that has long been a target of conservatives.Mr Trump has described the Education Department as wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology. However, eliminating it is most likely impossible without an act of Congress, which created the department in 1979. Republicans said they would introduce a bill to achieve this. However, the department will not be completely shut down. The White House said the department would continue to perform some vital functions.Mr Trump said his administration would wind down the department beyond its “core needs” and retain its responsibilities for Title I funding for low-income schools, Pell grants and money for children with disabilities. The White House previously said it would also continue to manage federal student loans.The president blamed the department for America’s lagging academic performance and said states would do a better job.”It’s not doing us any good,” he said at a White House ceremony.Already, Mr Trump’s Republican administration is dismantling the agency, cutting its staff in half, and making deep cuts to the Office for Civil Rights and the Institute of Education Sciences, which collects data on the nation’s educational progress.Public school advocates said eliminating the department would leave children behind in a US education system that is fundamentally unequal.”This is a dark day for millions of American children who depend on federal funding for a quality education, including those in poor and rural communities whose parents voted for Trump,” said Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP.Democrats said the order would be fought in the courts and in Congress and urged Republicans to join the opposition.Supporters of Mr Trump’s approach to education welcomed the order.”No longer will there be bureaucracy dictating what children are taught or innovation stifled by red tape,” Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, said on social media. “States, communities and parents can take the reins – moulding education in a way that really works for their children.” The White House has not formally clarified which department functions could be assigned to other departments or eliminated entirely.The department sends billions of dollars to schools annually and oversees $1.6 trillion in federal student loans.Currently, much of the agency’s work revolves around managing the money — its extensive student loan portfolio and a range of aid programmes for colleges and school districts, such as school meals and aid for homeless students. The agency is also key in overseeing civil rights enforcement.States and districts already control local schools, including curriculum, but some conservatives have pushed to reduce the conditions attached to federal money and provide it to states as “block grants” they can use at their discretion. Block grants have raised questions about key funding sources, including Title I, the largest source of federal money for America’s K-12 schools. Families of children with disabilities are frustrated by what could come of the work of the federal department that protects their rights.Federal funds make up a relatively small portion of public school budgets — about 14%. That money often supports supplemental programmes for underprivileged students, such as the McKinney-Vento programme for homeless students or Title I for low-income schools.Colleges and universities are more dependent on money from Washington, through research grants as well as federal financial aid to help students pay their tuition.Republicans have talked about closing the Education Department for decades, saying it wastes taxpayer money and involves the federal government in decisions that should be the jurisdiction of states and schools. The idea has gained popularity recently as conservative parent groups demand more authority over their children’s schooling.In his platform, Mr Trump promised to close the department “and send it back to the states, where it belongs.” Mr Trump has described the department as a den of “radicals, radicals and Marxists” who extend their overreach through guidance and regulation.Talking on this topic, political analyst Priya Sehgal said, “The executive order signed by President Donald Trump to abolish the US Department of Education is a significant and controversial move. The move reflects his long-standing view of limiting federal intervention in education and giving more independence to state and local governments. Trump has described the Department of Education as “dysfunctional” and “liberal-minded”, which has been a major criticism of him and his supporters.The move seeks to attract his supporters who are in favour of reducing federal control in the field of education and giving more independence to the state level. They see it as a restoration of “state rights”. However, opponents see the move as harmful to children, especially the poor, disabled and students affected by apartheid. They argue that the intervention of the federal government in the field of education is necessary to ensure equality and provide equal educational opportunities to poor communities.The move is quite challenging from a legislative perspective, as abolishing the Department of Education would require a change in the law by Congress. This will further deepen the political conflict, especially among those Republican leaders who support federal management of education.The move is part of Trump’s broader political vision to end the “deep state” and government interference. While the move may strengthen his base, it may also anger centrist voters in swing states, where education and federal support are key election issues.Overall, the move marks another significant change in the US education system, which could further deepen the deep divisions in the country from a political and social perspective.”
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