President Donald Trump continues to push for immediate closure of the U.S. Department of Education, and Democrats push back.
The federal department provides grant funding for America‘s underserved schools and programs, including paying teachers of special education students. The DOE also evaluates public and private schools for curricula quality and to ensure all students obtain an equal education, as reported by Reuters.
Title IX guidelines, which prohibit discrimination in the American education system based on sex, is enforced by the DOE. Civil Rights-era laws require students in the U.S. receive an equal education regardless of race, income or gender and the DOE is responsible and maintains the authority to enforce education laws.
The DOE, which became a cabinet-level agency in 1980, and oversees $1.6 trillion in student loan funding for millions of Americans who otherwise could not afford a college education. Approximately $30 billion a year in Pell Grant funding is provided for lower-income college students.
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia serves on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
“Without a Department of Education, who is going to enforce the protections in the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, making sure that our students with disabilities are treated fairly? Without a Department of Education, who is going to make sure that schools receive Title I funding, schools with high percentage of low-income students without a Department of Education? Are we going to be clear that students who qualify for school meal programs will get them without a Department of Education? What about folks applying for public service loan forgiveness under the program that was created during the Bush Administration by a bipartisan Congress?” Kaine said in a statement last week.
According to Kaine, abolishing the DOE and allowing states to “manage things going forward returns us to the Brown v. Board of Education era of states’ rights in education. What we found during that era is that some states did it right, and some states did it wrong, and the federal government should not take a hands-off, blind-eye position on education and refuse to enforce basic fairness and equity in our schools around the country.”
Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott of Virginia on the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce, spoke in opposition to House Republicans’ proposed budget last week. Scott spoke specifically against H.R. 1048, H.R. 649, H.R. 1069, H.R. 1005 and H.R. 1049. He said his Republican colleagues have been silent or have actively supported dismantling the DOE, a goal which is promoted in Project 2025 on page 352.
“For those pushing this damaging policy, the argument rests on the perception that the federal government is too involved in our schools. And here we are marking up bills that would give the Department of Education more responsibility to impose unfunded mandates and interfere with local schools,” Scott said.
Scott said that Republicans are responding to disappointing school achievement scores, however, no plan is prepared to improve academic achievement of America‘s students.
“In fact, the Administration is making it harder to improve public education. Earlier this week, the Trump Administration permitted Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to sabotage the work of the Institute of Education Sciences – a place that produces high-quality research and is used to improve our public schools,” Scott said.
The series of bills under consideration last week “only add complexity and confusion and, frankly, are solutions in search of a problem.”
According to Scott, House Resolution 1048 “creates an arbitrary, potentially discriminatory approach targeting certain countries and their researchers. By focusing on nationality rather than security risks, this bill undermines the international collaborations that have historically advanced fields like health and technology. As I’ve said before, we can address these concerns without undermining the trust between our institutions and our global partners.”
H.R. 649 would allow whole milk served in school lunches and disregard science-based nutrition standards developed by the Obama Administration. The bill undermines efforts to align school meal programs with the latest science-based national findings.
“It is especially disheartening that this legislation is being considered at a time when Republicans are reportedly considering significant cuts in SNAP benefits and to the school meal program that would take free meals away from hungry children,” Scott said.
H.R. 1069 would place restrictions on public schools if they received financial contributions, teaching materials or other resources from China although no evidence exists of foreign influence in K-12 schools.
According to Scott, H.R. 1005 and H.R. 1049 “add layers of bureaucracy and impose excessive reporting requirements on schools without providing the necessary support or funding for schools to comply. My colleagues have historically called these types of bills “unfunded mandates.” Instead of addressing our schools’ real challenges — such as widening achievement gaps as revealed in the NAEP data released in January, teacher shortages and improving school infrastructure — these bills will only create more administrative burdens.”
Scott said that dismantling the DOE and advancing bills that require the responsibility of the Secretary of Education does not make sense. The proposed Republican bills do not seek to improve NAEP scores, do not improve child hunger and do not reduce adverse foreign influence.
“Instead, they will only create more administrative hurdles, complicate the problems we face in education, and fuel misinformation.”
Scott said that Republicans’ budget cuts will likely target school meal programs and the student loan program. Aimed at funding tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, the cuts would come at a time when millions of American families are struggling with rising prices for everyday essentials like eggs.
Funding cuts also threaten critical national programs like SNAP, which feeds one in five American children and could impact the eligibility of nearly 16 million children’s access to free school meals. Cutting Summer EBT benefits would impact more than 20 million hungry children.
“This budget resolution exemplifies my colleagues’ willingness to betray the American people in the name of so-called fiscal responsibility. While some talk about deficits, Democrats are working to clean up the mess left by Republicans over the last six decades,” Scott said.
The payments of student loans could increase for current and future borrowers because of the Republican proposal. Republicans are considering capping federal aid, leaving 50 percent of students without the support needed to afford college. Republicans are also considering pushing unaffordable repayment plans, eliminating Parent PLUS and Graduate PLUS loans that primarily benefit Black families, ending the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. By rescinding the 90/10 and Borrower Defense regulations, Republicans would threaten to expose students to predatory institutions and leave defrauded borrowers without relief.
“Democrats will continue to fight for the programs that families and students rely on to put food on the table and secure a better future,” Scott said.
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- Trump seeks immediate closure of U.S. Department of Education
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Rebecca Barnabi
