In the news:
President Trump has repeatedly promised to close the Department of Education, including at his September 2024 rally in Pennsylvania, and later on a Fox and Friends interview. He reiterated the plan when he nominated former WWE executive Linda McMahon to head the department. This plan can also be found in Project 2025.
Closing the Department of Education(DoED) legally would take an act of Congress. There are now currently 3 active bills that seek to dismantle it:
– HR 899 “To Terminate the Department of Education” Rep. Massey (KY)
-HR 369 “To Provide for the Elimination of The Department of Education, and for Other Purposes” Rep. Rouzer (NC)
-S 5384 “Returning Education to our States Act” Sen. Rounds (SD)
The bills differ in their plans for the department’s functions. S 5384 relocates certain programs to other departments following Project 2025’s outlines, while HR 899’s entire text is one sentence: “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2026.”
President Trump also drafted an Executive Order designed to gut DoED. Sources say he will not sign off on the order until McMahon is confirmed, due to its controversial nature.
Elon Musk’s DOGE team cancelled most of DoED’s research this week. The Institute of Education Services (IES) is an office within DoED that funds research grants. Most or all of their grants have been cut.
AEM Education Services, a contractor of the Office of Special Ed and Rehabilitative Services(OSERS) within DoED, also had their contracts suddenly cancelled on Tuesday, February 11th. AEM’s provides data analysis to determine where IDEA –the law that protects disabled students rights at school–funding should go. Without this data, states may not receive their IDEA-related grants, making it difficult for them to execute IEPs and services.
What Does DoED Actually Do?
Founded by President Carter, DoED serves 4 essential functions:
- Dispersing federal aid, like Pell grants and related FAFSA financial support for students attending college.
- Collecting and sharing data, research, and training materials: DoED conducts studies on teaching methods and shares that information with schools across the country.
- Choosing and advocating for key national educational issues, like the “Common Core” about things students should be able to do at a given grade level. For example: a reading standard for a first grader wouldn’t dictate what books a teacher should use, but says a student should be able to, “identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.”
- Preventing discrimination and ensuring equal access to education:
– DoED makes sure all K-12 students have access to “Free and Appropriate Public Education” (FAPE) by enforcing the law known as IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). Through grants to districts, DoED also pays some IDEA-related costs through grants, though this varies from district to district. Under IDEA, a disabled child is entitled to accommodation and an Individual Education Plan, or IEP.
If a school violates the IEP or the child’s right to education, it is with DoED that parents file a complaint. (Sometimes families are told to file an additional complaint to the Office of Civil Rights under the Department of Justice, but this Office is also frozen under the current administration.”
– DoED disburses funds to a variety of deaf and disability-centered programming through the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) as well as institutions like Gallaudet University, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the American Printing House for the Blind, Special Olympics, Helen Keller National Center for the DeafBlind and more.
– DoED provides supplemental funding to underserved K-12 schools, known as “Title 1 schools,” in situations where state and local funding is inadequate. These schools often serve rural populations, as well as BIPOC-majority areas, and disabled students here are at already multiply marginalized.
What the Dept. of Education Doesn’t Do
Supporters of abolishing DoED often say they want to give control of education “back to the states.” But education content is already in state control.
DoED does NOT regulate specific content or curriculum. States and local school boards decide things like what textbooks, novels or other curriculum items a school district uses.
What happens to IDEA and IEPs Without DoED?
We’re not sure, exactly, whether IDEA enforcement will be moved to another department, or whether the administration will attempt to stop enforcement. As the administration is currently in contempt of several judicial orders about the constitutionality of their orders, depending solely on hope in the rule of law is not advisable.
IDEA is currently enforced by complaints to DoED and the Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR). Leaving parents without those avenues when districts don’t provide access leaves families without recourse, rendering IEPs less than binding.
Even if the programming is spared moved to another department, the transition would be rocky and lots of expert knowledge and policy guidance would be lost. It would be up to that new agency what kind of resources should be dedicated to IDEA enforcement. For example, if IDEA is saved and moved to HHS, it would be up to RFK Jr. to decide what happens to IDEA enforcement. Kennedy has supported anti-vax conspiracies about autism, echoed eugenicist philosophy, and suggested people with substance abuse disorders and folks who take prescription drugs, such as ADHD medicationbe sent to “wellness camps” to do outdoor labor.
How Can I Take Action to Save DoED?
1. Call these four Senators in their capacity on the HELP committee, and tell them to vote NO on McMahon’s nomination. This will stall the process. The committee is 11-12 GOP, so we only need one to flip in order to deadlock the vote. If you are honest about where you live, you can call from out of state regarding the committee in particular. The hearing begins tomorrow, 13 February 2025, so this is time sensitive.
Susan Collins (known to be more likely to occasionally cross party lines): (202) 224-2523
Lisa Murkowski (known to be more likely to occasionally cross party lines): (202) 244-6665
John Husted (has previously supported disability rights): (202) 224-3353
Rand Paul (has a deaf nephew; has signed ASL on the Senate floor): (202)-224-4343
2. If the Committee advances McMahon, call your senator to tell them to vote NO on confirming. Find your senator’s contact information here.
Share this Information!
Many people, especially those following only mainstream or conservative media, are missing this information, but the Department of Education protects everyone’s rights. Print out this flyer and spread the word around town!