Will Trump Eliminate The Department Of Education? What We Know As Elon Musk Applauds ‘Good Idea.’
Posted on 11/12/2024
Topline
President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to shutter the federal Department of Education and relegate all educational responsibility to individual states—a move that could impact crucial funding for K-12 schools and hamper civil rights enforcement—but experts warn it’s unlikely the federal government will be able to be hands off when it comes to education regulation, even if the department is closed.
Key Facts
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Crucial Quote
“We will drain the government education swamp and stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth with all sorts of things that you don’t want to have our youth hearing,” Trump said during a September rally in Wisconsin.
News Peg
Billionaire Elon Musk, a Trump super donor who is expected to hold some kind of role in his next administration, on Monday called closing the Department of Education a “good idea.” He also posted a meme with a photo of Carter and text reading: "In 1979 I created the Department of Education. Since then America went from 1st to 24th in education." What data that statistic relies on is unclear.
How Could The Department Of Education Be Eliminated?
Closing the Department of Education would require congressional action and likely a super majority of 60 votes in the Senate, according to The Washington Post. Republicans won back control of the Senate in last week’s election, but will remain several votes shy of 60, meaning any action requiring 60 votes would need the support of some Democrats. Closing the department was included as an amendment in a 2023 House vote last year, and 60 Republicans voted against it, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., a top House Republican Trump has selected for a UN ambassador role in his next administration.
What Does The Department Of Education Do?
The Education Department's largest responsibility is the dolling out of federal education funds. Education is ultimately the responsibility of state and local governments under the current setup, but federal money supplements state resources and funds a variety of programs, many aimed at narrowing funding gaps for low-income or at-risk students. In Fiscal Year 2022, federal funds made up $119 billion, or about 14%, of total education funding. Hallmark programs include Title I, which provides supplemental funding to high-poverty K-12 schools used to hire teachers and otherwise support low-income communities, and the Office of Special Education Programs, which provides resources for disabled students through age 21. The department is also responsible for collecting statistics on enrollment, crime in school, staffing and other topics; making recommendations for education reform; running the Nation's Report Card achievement tests; investigating civil rights violations; and overseeing the federal student loan program, including the distribution of Pell Grants.
What Is The Education Department’s Budget?
In Fiscal Year 2024, the Department of Education was allocated $238 billion, less than 2% of the total federal budget.
What Would Closing The Department Of Education Mean For Student Loans?
Trump has not specified what the fate of federal student loan programs would be if the Department of Education is eliminated. In any case, the next administration is expected to take a much tougher approach to student loan forgiveness efforts compared to President Joe Biden’s administration. Trump in June blasted Biden’s forgiveness plans as “vile,” saying they were just “to get publicity with the election.”
What Does Project 2025 Say About The Education Department?
Project 2025 calls for the allocation of the department’s programs to other areas in the federal government. Civil rights enforcement in schools, for instance, would be the responsibility of the Justice Department, the student loan program would move to a new sector in cooperation with the Treasury Department and other programs would move to the Department of Health and Human Services, according to The Washington Post. Project 2025’s education plan calls to eliminate Title I funding (which supports students from low-income families) and instead dole out block grants to states without spending oversight; cut the Head Start program, which the Center for American Progress warns would restrict access to childcare in rural areas and "exacerbate inequalities among families with young children"; and roll back Biden-era Title IX revisions that prohibit discrimination in schools based on of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Who Else Has Tried To Eliminate The Department Of Education?
Ronald Reagan campaigned on getting rid of it in 1980, Bob Dole argued in favor of eliminating it during his 1996 Republican presidential campaign against Bill Clinton, and both Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., called for its elimination in 2015. Arguments for eliminating it have varied over time and included calls ranging from getting the federal government out of education entirely to transforming it into a grant-making agency to reallocating its programs to other agencies.
Big Number
44%. That's how many Americans have a favorable view of the Department of Education, according to a Pew Research survey released in August. There are wide partisan gaps in how the department is viewed—with 27% of surveyed Republicans viewing it as favorable compared to 62% of Democrats. The Department of Education was ranked No. 14 on a list of 16 federal agencies in terms of favorability, the Pew survey showed, with the National Park Service (76% favorable), U.S. Postal Service (72%) and NASA (67%) at the top. The Department of Justice (43%) and IRS (38%) were the only agencies ranked lower.
Further Reading
Washington PostGOP candidates embrace Trump's call to abolish Education DepartmentForbesWhat Is Agenda47? What To Know About Trump’s Policy Agenda After Election WinForbesMusk Reportedly Joined Trump’s Call With Ukrainian President: Here’s Everything They’ve Said About Working TogetherForbesProject 2025 Explained: What To Know About The Right-Wing Policy Map Ahead Of Tonight’s VP Debate
President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to shutter the federal Department of Education and relegate all educational responsibility to individual states—a move that could impact crucial funding for K-12 schools and hamper civil rights enforcement—but experts warn it’s unlikely the federal government will be able to be hands off when it comes to education regulation, even if the department is closed.
Key Facts
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.
Crucial Quote
“We will drain the government education swamp and stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth with all sorts of things that you don’t want to have our youth hearing,” Trump said during a September rally in Wisconsin.
News Peg
Billionaire Elon Musk, a Trump super donor who is expected to hold some kind of role in his next administration, on Monday called closing the Department of Education a “good idea.” He also posted a meme with a photo of Carter and text reading: "In 1979 I created the Department of Education. Since then America went from 1st to 24th in education." What data that statistic relies on is unclear.
How Could The Department Of Education Be Eliminated?
Closing the Department of Education would require congressional action and likely a super majority of 60 votes in the Senate, according to The Washington Post. Republicans won back control of the Senate in last week’s election, but will remain several votes shy of 60, meaning any action requiring 60 votes would need the support of some Democrats. Closing the department was included as an amendment in a 2023 House vote last year, and 60 Republicans voted against it, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., a top House Republican Trump has selected for a UN ambassador role in his next administration.
What Does The Department Of Education Do?
The Education Department's largest responsibility is the dolling out of federal education funds. Education is ultimately the responsibility of state and local governments under the current setup, but federal money supplements state resources and funds a variety of programs, many aimed at narrowing funding gaps for low-income or at-risk students. In Fiscal Year 2022, federal funds made up $119 billion, or about 14%, of total education funding. Hallmark programs include Title I, which provides supplemental funding to high-poverty K-12 schools used to hire teachers and otherwise support low-income communities, and the Office of Special Education Programs, which provides resources for disabled students through age 21. The department is also responsible for collecting statistics on enrollment, crime in school, staffing and other topics; making recommendations for education reform; running the Nation's Report Card achievement tests; investigating civil rights violations; and overseeing the federal student loan program, including the distribution of Pell Grants.
What Is The Education Department’s Budget?
In Fiscal Year 2024, the Department of Education was allocated $238 billion, less than 2% of the total federal budget.
What Would Closing The Department Of Education Mean For Student Loans?
Trump has not specified what the fate of federal student loan programs would be if the Department of Education is eliminated. In any case, the next administration is expected to take a much tougher approach to student loan forgiveness efforts compared to President Joe Biden’s administration. Trump in June blasted Biden’s forgiveness plans as “vile,” saying they were just “to get publicity with the election.”
What Does Project 2025 Say About The Education Department?
Project 2025 calls for the allocation of the department’s programs to other areas in the federal government. Civil rights enforcement in schools, for instance, would be the responsibility of the Justice Department, the student loan program would move to a new sector in cooperation with the Treasury Department and other programs would move to the Department of Health and Human Services, according to The Washington Post. Project 2025’s education plan calls to eliminate Title I funding (which supports students from low-income families) and instead dole out block grants to states without spending oversight; cut the Head Start program, which the Center for American Progress warns would restrict access to childcare in rural areas and "exacerbate inequalities among families with young children"; and roll back Biden-era Title IX revisions that prohibit discrimination in schools based on of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Who Else Has Tried To Eliminate The Department Of Education?
Ronald Reagan campaigned on getting rid of it in 1980, Bob Dole argued in favor of eliminating it during his 1996 Republican presidential campaign against Bill Clinton, and both Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., called for its elimination in 2015. Arguments for eliminating it have varied over time and included calls ranging from getting the federal government out of education entirely to transforming it into a grant-making agency to reallocating its programs to other agencies.
Big Number
44%. That's how many Americans have a favorable view of the Department of Education, according to a Pew Research survey released in August. There are wide partisan gaps in how the department is viewed—with 27% of surveyed Republicans viewing it as favorable compared to 62% of Democrats. The Department of Education was ranked No. 14 on a list of 16 federal agencies in terms of favorability, the Pew survey showed, with the National Park Service (76% favorable), U.S. Postal Service (72%) and NASA (67%) at the top. The Department of Justice (43%) and IRS (38%) were the only agencies ranked lower.
Further Reading
Washington PostGOP candidates embrace Trump's call to abolish Education DepartmentForbesWhat Is Agenda47? What To Know About Trump’s Policy Agenda After Election WinForbesMusk Reportedly Joined Trump’s Call With Ukrainian President: Here’s Everything They’ve Said About Working TogetherForbesProject 2025 Explained: What To Know About The Right-Wing Policy Map Ahead Of Tonight’s VP Debate
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