President Trump's interest in shutting down the education sector has not been central to any of his three White House campaigns, but his explanation for closing agents has always been consistent.
Trump said in 2015 that he was a candidate in the third month. On the final day of the 2024 race, he told supporters, “Your state will manage your child's education.”
The federal government, which primarily provides university loans and is responsible for enforcing civil rights at schools, had little control over education. Still, Trump deployed a mantra back to the state once again on March 20 when he signed an executive order and closed the department. The order was titled “Improve educational outcomes by empowering parents, states and communities.”
This maneuvering has long been the appeal of conservative establishment politicians who advocate for small federal government and more local control, and has now become the central tenet of the Second Trump administration on many issues, from abortion and reduction regulations to tariffs. But states are not necessarily set up to replicate the federal surveillance functions, particularly on issues of education.
Trump avoided questions about abortion rights by using tactics in the 2024 presidential election, saying that the nation should decide the issue. This is Roev. It's a particularly brave move after stacking conservative judges and Supreme Courts to overturn Wade.
Recently, Trump and others in his administration have pushed to remove federal emergency management agencies, saying that the state will do a better job. The move appears to ignore the core principles of the agency that disaster relief best practices are “executed locally, controlled by the state and supported by the federal government.”
A push ring familiar to conservatives who have worked since the 1970s to sort out the federal government under the umbrella of “new federalism” promoted by the Nixon administration. The initiative, which was expanded by the Reagan administration, has moved many social and civic programs to the state. The moves that scholars have said are often rooted in attempts to disrupt civil rights-era alliances with black communities that threaten conservative power.
But Trump's most audacious attempt to use the nation as a political heat shield is his bid to close the education sector, the most important change in the role of the federal government in the country's schools since the civil rights era.
Since its establishment in 1979, the main role of the Federal Bureau has been to manage university financial aid, oversee educational research, enforce the civil rights of the school, and support low-income and students with disabilities. The Trump administration has proposed shifting some of these functions to other federal agencies. For example, it has moved student loans to the Small Business Administration, and supports the Ministry of Health and Human Services in support of students with disabilities.
Other functions like research are essentially disbanded when the government drives away workers. The Trump administration's right-wing blueprint, known as Project 2025, is unclear whether Trump will follow that playbook, but it calls for low-income students to spend on private schools.
State officials are deeply divided on change as Trump appears to pose responsibility for some of the country's most pressing and challenging issues.
“It's a complete shell game,” said Democrat Gov. Maura Healy of Massachusetts. “It's all about changing liability and costs to states that are never located to cover these costs from the federal government.”
Meanwhile, Republican governors are generally behind the president, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. All three travelled to Washington and saw Trump sign an executive order on March 20th and began demolishing the department.
“Every student, family and community is different,” DeWine said in a statement. “By giving education to more educational authority, there is the flexibility to focus your efforts on tuning the educational experience that is best suited for your children.”
In Virginia, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin also supports Trump. But he asked lawmakers to double the size of the state's emergency fund to nearly $600 million due to a potential economic downturn after the Trump administration moved from the federal workforce to cut tens of thousands of jobs.
Justification appeals to some of the leading Republican voters. During Trump's final campaign, he turned the department into a political punching bag and appeaseed the “parent rights” movement growing up at his conservative base.
Trump's ambition to abolish the sector is intricately linked to his broader political agenda for dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the federal government.
It remains unclear how much power and decisions he can make in his community.
Public education management is already primarily in state and local districts, generating around 90% of all school funding. State and local officials set teacher pay and choose which textbooks to use. The state also manages standardized tests, sets academic standards and determines what is not taught. In Florida, for example, the state's “stop awakening” banned teaching certain aspects of history.
Decisions on the money spent on education, what those funds can be used, and whether families can use those dollars for private schools and homeschooling are all determined by the state.
Federal law also expressly prohibits Washington from defining curriculum standards, library resources, textbooks, and other measures of influence. The law existed before Trump first took over control of the White House in 2017.
Even Trump's description of the education sector as a “massive giant” is misleading.
The 4,133 male and female division workforce at the beginning of the year was last ranked among 15 cabinet-level executive bodies. Some public high schools have more registered students than they have employees in the education department.
Trump denounced it as a failed experiment by pointing out the decline in mathematics and reading scores, lamenting that even previous Democratic administrations were “terribly unacceptable.” He does not explain how ending the federal government's role in public education can increase student proficiency.
Instead, even if he moves to close the department, the new Trump administration's policies seem to have preyed on the importance of the president's mantra to return power to the country.
The Trump administration began investigating the entire California and Maine state school systems this week. Both are run by Democratic governors who are openly critical of Trump's policies. The survey aims to protect the safety of trans students against requirements from unwanted disclosure to parents.
The probe began days after Trump signed the executive order during a television event at the White House, where he reiterated his five-fold interest in empowering the nation to make the best decisions for his students.
“We're going to bring education back so easily and return to the state that it belongs,” he said.
Sarah Melbosh Reports of contributions.
