Effects of Dismantling the Department of Education

With signs pointing to the Department of Education being dismantled and ended, it leaves many questions like: “What does this mean for my school?”

Firstly, the dismantling of the Department of Education isn’t expected to happen quite yet. There has been bipartisan pushback to the idea of getting rid of the department, but a new bill states that it will be gone by the end of 2026. So, it’s not so easy.

The National Education Association states that 95% of disabled children in the US attend public schools, which is something the Department of Education works with, by supplying schools with resources and funding to accommodate different needs from children. 

Most of the reasoning behind dismantling the Department of Education goes back to the conservative idea of “power to the states” where any of the federal assistance to schools will be diminished and put on the states instead. 

Some of the main programs that would be “disassembled” include:

1. Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) - Around 15% of the special education population receives education through the $15 billion provided in this act to children with disabilities. This could either be completely cut or, potentially, transferred to a different agency.

2. The Education Department’s Civil Rights Office - This office would most likely be moved to the Department of Justice, which could possibly lessen the impact and power of the sub-office. 

3. Pell Grants -  30% of college students (US) need them to pay for college. College enrollment is already dropping, but this could be accelerated by the loss of a major funding outlet. 

4. Title 1 - This program gives money to schools in low-income areas to hire specialists and lower class sizes and could be lessened, moved to another department, or moved to the states as “block grants” (which would be different from what they are now, as the money received has to be used for specific purposes). Block grants have fewer strings attached and can easily be manipulated.

If most of the programs are simply pushed back to the states, concerns remain. CNBC reports that 27 state governments are currently in debt, meaning that the loss of federal funding for school programs could lower the quality of education for marginalized kids if states cannot afford to restart the programs with their own money.

Pushback from schools, parents, students, and teachers is ramping up; but at this point, it is unknown if it’ll mean anything.