Trump orders dismantling of Department of Education

Students rally outside the U.S. Department of Education to protest budget cuts, Washington, March 13, 2025.

President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order on March 20 to “begin eliminating the federal Department of Education.”

As president, Trump is unable to single-handedly abolish the department without Congressional approval. In a sneaky attempt to bypass Congress, language in the new order commands Education Secretary Linda McMahon, a Trump appointee, to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the states and local communities.” (nbcnews.com, March 20)

Education workers, students and parents/guardians across the U.S. are voicing concerns about the future of public education. One major fear is what may happen to the funding of Title I schools and programs. Any potential changes to Title I money will have a devastating impact on students in the poorest working-class and oppressed communities, as well as students with disabilities. Education workers worry about school closures and permanent mass layoffs.

Trump’s executive order is a bit contradictory. On one hand it promises to “preserve in full” certain programs such as Title I and Pell Grants (a type of financial aid) and resources for students with disabilities. (Newsweek, March 20) On the other hand, the order also pledges to cut other essential programs, including the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights.

The Office for Civil Rights enforces laws aiming to prevent discrimination in schools, which includes people with disabilities, in addition to people of color, women, gender-oppressed people and individuals within the LGBTQIA2S+ communities.

If funding is left up to the individual states, there is a concern about the class disparity between states and school districts. Education workers worry about school closures and permanent mass layoffs.

The far-right push to privatize public education

The Department of Education was officially created with a Cabinet-level secretary position in 1979 under then-President Jimmy Carter’s administration. Prior to that, there was a Department of Health, Education and Welfare established in 1953.

The far right, along with corporate and business interest groups, opposed the Department of Education from the beginning. Former President Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign called for the dismantlement of the newly formed department. The 1980 Reagan campaign team argued that the “crazy quilt of wasteful [federal] programs” should be replaced by block grants to the states. (Time Magazine, Feb. 15) The idea of replacing the Department of Education with “block grants to the states” was a wink and a nod to violent, racist segregationists.

Like Trump’s presidential campaigns, the Reagan campaigns had the support of far-right forces, such as the Heritage Foundation, the John Birch Society and the terrorist Ku Klux Klan. Reagan also used racism and white supremacist propaganda to attack the Department of Education.

In addition to spreading misinformation about the federal education department, both Reagan and Trump set out to privatize public education. Far-right ideologues and the billionaire class desire a profit-driven education system, as opposed to one that delivers actual learning and student achievement for everyone.

Education Secretary McMahon is a proponent of privatization. She was selected by former Republican Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell to sit on that state’s Board of Education in 2009. However, McMahon was forced to resign from the Board within a year after it was discovered that she lied about having an education degree. During her short stint on the Connecticut Board of Education, McMahon was a vocal proponent of privatizing the largely unionized public school districts in that state.

Education workers collectively speak up

Many labor and civil rights activists have spoken out against the recent executive order. National Education Association President Becky Pringle stated that the administration’s actions “will hurt all students by sending class sizes soaring, cutting job training programs, making higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle class families, taking away special education services for students with disabilities and gutting student civil rights protections.” (nbcnews.com, March 20)

Workers World spoke with union teachers in West Virginia who participated in the major 2018 and 2019 work stoppages about their thoughts on recent attacks on the Department of Education.

Laura Jackson, a middle school Special Education teacher, told WW, “Trump’s action undermines the vital support systems that ensure all students, particularly those with disabilities, receive the education they deserve.” Jackson also stressed how the executive order could affect laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and jokingly added how, “McMahon had no ‘idea’ what IDEA was when asked shortly after her confirmation.”

WW also spoke with Michael Panzieri, a high school history instructor, who said: “Our public schools will see staff cuts, the elimination of fine and performing arts programs and increased class sizes. This is all to serve the ultimate goal of privatizing education for the benefit of a few billionaires.”

Lisa Tedeschi, an elementary school teacher, explained that she is “concerned how the recent move could hurt Title I schools and early intervention for primary grade children” and fears it will be a disservice to all students.

While public schools have to accept all students, privatized and private schools do not. Students, teachers, education workers and community members all have a stake in defending public schools against reactionary attacks.

Money for schools and education, not for war or privatization!