Following up to fulfill a campaign promise, President Donald Trump and his team are pledging to dismantle the Department of Education.
What they’re not telling us is: how that makes our education system better.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday he “hired” Linda McMahon to be Secretary of Education and told her to eventually “put yourself out of a job.”
Fact check: Trump didn’t “hire” McMahon, the former CEO of WWE, who has no background in education at any level, and whose main qualification appears to be that she has been a major donor to Trump’s presidential campaigns.
Presidents don’t “hire” people to serve on their Cabinet; they nominate people, who then have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Trump also said he wants to let states run public schools because the United States is ranked low for education in the world.
How letting states run public schools gets us to improve on our ranking is left to the imagination.
Quick facts
The department’s annual budget for 2024 was $268.35 billion, according to USA Facts, which makes it the sixth most funded agency in the federal government.
The Department of Education was created by Congress in 1979 to promote educational excellence, enhance student achievement and readiness for global competition. The department’s mission was to guarantee equal access for students of all ages.
Although a small fraction of public school’s overall funding each year, the department provides Title I funding for low-income communities and for school systems with disabled students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
The department manages the National Assessment of Educational Progress to track student achievement in math, reading and science.
Data from colleges, universities and vocational programs in the federal student aid program allow the department to collect data on colleges and college students. The data then provides transparency for taxpayers because it gives them information for admissions and academic outcomes.
The $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt is managed by the department, as well as FAFSA, which more than 17 million college students and students who hope to begin college apply for every year to pay for a college education.
The department does not instruct public school systems on what to teach in classrooms. Individual state DOEs are responsible for curriculum requirements.
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Rebecca Barnabi
