What would the elimination of the Department of Education, proposed by Mr. Trump, mean?

2024-11-21 15:30:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Department of Education

During the campaign for the White House, President-elect Donald Trump disparaged the Department of Education, calling it infiltrated by "radicals, bigots and Marxists."

Mr. Trump has chosen Linda McMahon, a former top sports executive, including wrestling, to lead the department. But like many conservative politicians before him, Republican Trump has called for eliminating the department entirely, a difficult task that would likely require congressional approval.

The department's primary role is on the financial side, providing billions in federal funds to colleges and schools and managing the federal government's student loans.

Closing the department would mean transferring those duties to another agency. The Department of Education also plays an important regulatory role in serving students, ranging from those with disabilities to children from low-income families and the homeless.

Federal education funding is a key part of Mr. Trump's plans for colleges and schools.

The president-elect has vowed to cut off federal funding for schools and colleges that implement policies of "critical racial theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content." He has promised to reward states and schools that end the unrestricted hiring of teachers and adopt universal programs that allow parents to choose where to educate their children.

Donald Trump

Federal funds make up a relatively small portion of the budget for public schools, approximately 14%. Colleges and universities rely more heavily on federal funding, such as research funding and funds that help students pay for their tuition.

Student loans and financial aid

The Department of Education manages approximately $1.5 trillion in student loans owed by approximately 40 million borrowers. It also oversees a student aid program below a certain income threshold for needy families and administers low-cost federal student loans.

President Biden's administration has forgiven the debt of several million students, calling the effort an important mission of the Department of Education. After the Supreme Court overturned President Biden's initial effort to cancel student loans, the administration has forgiven more than $175 billion in loans for more than 4.8 million borrowers, changing a series of programs it administers, such as debt forgiveness in public interest service. But these efforts have met with opposition from Republicans, among them lawsuits filed in conservative states.

Joe Biden

Mr. Trump has criticized President Biden's efforts to cancel the debt, calling them illegal and unfair, and has called the move a "total disaster" that "makes a mockery of young people." Mr. Trump has not offered detailed plans for students.

Civil rights

Through the Office for Civil Rights, the Department of Education conducts investigations and provides guidance on how civil rights laws should be applied to both LGBTQ+ students and students of color.

The office also oversees a major data collection project to look at disparities in resources, access to educational courses and discipline for students of different racial and socioeconomic groups.

Trump has suggested a different interpretation of the role of the civil rights office. In his election campaign platform, he stated that he would use this office to "stop schools from discriminating on racial grounds."

He described the policies of diversity and equality in education as "clear and illegal discrimination", saying that colleges that use these policies will be fined and their funds will be taxed.

Donald Trump

Mr. Trump has also vowed to exempt transgender students from protections provided by the federal law known as Title IX, which affects school policies on transgender students' use of pronouns, bathrooms and locker rooms. Originally passed in 1972, "Act IX" was used for the first time to protect women's rights. This year, President Biden's administration said the law prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, but Mr. Trump could undo that.

Accreditation of colleges

While the Department of Education does not directly accredit colleges and universities, it oversees the system, reviewing all accrediting agencies recognized by the federal government. Institutions of higher education must be accredited in order for their students to receive low-cost federal loans.

In 2022, the accreditation came under fire from conservatives when the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools questioned political interference in Florida's public colleges and universities.

Mr. Trump has said he will fire "radical leftist accreditors" and accept applications for new accreditors who will uphold standards, including "protecting the American tradition" and removing "Marxist" diversity administrators.

Although the secretary of education enjoys the authority to terminate relationships with individual accrediting agencies, this is a difficult process that is rarely implemented.

Under President Barack Obama, the department took steps to revoke accreditors for a number of now-defunct for-profit colleges, but President Trump's administration blocked the move. In 2022, President Biden's administration revoked the group's license from the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.

Barack Obama

Funding for schools

Most of the Department of Education's funding for schools in grades 1 through 12 goes through large federal programs, such as the Low-Income Schools Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Limited.

These programs support services for students with disabilities, classrooms with fewer students and extra teachers, and pay for social workers and other non-teaching roles in schools.

During the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump called for the transfer of these functions to the states. He did not provide details on how the agency's core functions of delivering federal funds to counties and local schools would be handled.

Project 2025 from the Heritage Foundation, a sweeping proposal that lays out a far-right vision for the country and aligns on some points with Mr. Trump's campaign, offers a blueprint.

The project suggests moving programs for children with disabilities and children from low-income families first under the Department of Health and Human Services, before eliminating the funds by converting them to unconditional grants to states./ VOA