By Cole Gee | Staff Writer
The Trump administration has been looking at the possibility of issuing an executive order to ban the Department of Education. This move is part of a strategic plan by Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to cut back the federal workforce to relieve debt.
With the DOE possibly on the chopping block, many teachers are worried about what their classrooms will look like in the future.
The dissolution of the DOE has long been a goal of the Republican Party. The effort dates back to the ’80s with Ronald Reagan’s campaign for president. He stated that “welfare and education are two functions that should be primarily carried out at the state and local levels.” Despite Reagan’s promises to eliminate the DOE, he failed due to a majority Democrat house.
Despite this loss, however, the Republican Party has maintained this agenda for decades. Project 2025 is the most recent political initiative by Republicans to remove the department. The agenda also promotes universal private school choice and would eliminate the Head Start program and rescind federal protections for LGBTQ+ students.
The issue some lawmakers and teachers have with Project 2025 regarding the DOE is the funding the DOE provides to thousands of local schools and programs through its $80 billion budget. From supporting public school programs and students with disabilities to providing student loans for college, these people may be vulnerable if a bill passes to do away with the department.
Sarah Bertelson is a Baylor graduate student who plans on becoming a full-time teacher next year. She said the current state of the job market is stressful for her, especially as a teacher, as the job has undergone big changes the past five years alone. Despite shifts in the field, Bertelson is more motivated than ever to work in the classroom.
“I feel like the kids motivate me to keep going,” Bertelson said. “I mean regardless of what happens I’ll still try and stay as a teacher, keep teaching as long as I can. I can’t see myself doing anything else … as long as I’m able to, I wanna keep showing up for the kids.”
Bertelson, a part-time substitute teacher, said the DOE is important to students with disabilities. Two major disability programs funded by the DOE are the 504 and IED, which work to create safe and specialized learning environments for disabled students. Disabled students across the country could be even more vulnerable without these programs in classroom.
“So many kids depend on it for their disability supports like the 504 or IEP, and I feel like without the programs that are funded through it a lot more underserved kids are gonna be even more underserved,” Bertelson said.
Sandra Monson has been teaching students since 1993. She fell in love with the profession because of her father, who was also a school teacher. She said teaching has been a cornerstone in her life for as long as she can remember.
For many teachers like Monson, supporting kids in the classroom may be a lot harder without the DOE to help them. Monson teaches at the Monroe School District in Washington, a Title 1 school, meaning it’s currently funded by the DOE. Monson said she doesn’t know what her school or classroom may look like without the DOE.
“We get funding from the federal government to support students that are in inconsistent home lives and that are inequitably served in other ways,” Monson said. “The Title 1 funding provides equal access for all students and so if the power were to be given to the states I’m not confident that we would be receiving as much as we are now.”
Baylor could also feel the long term ramifications of a DOE ban. Neil Shanks, a clinical assistant professor for middle and secondary education, said the biggest impact would be to students’ access to certain civil rights programs funded by the DOE.
“Because Baylor receives federal funding, they are bound by Department of Education policies,” Shanks said via email. “Therefore, Baylor students would lose their recourse for civil rights discrimination or Title IX protection. It might also –– depending on how it is eliminated –– jeopardize access to federal funding for education which could raise tuition or eliminate federal loan options to help afford college.”
Incoming students may see a drastically different campus compared to students the year before, as many students’ safety and financial stability may be at risk without Title IX and other federal safeguards.
As it stands, however, many lawmakers believe the administration may not have the political power to completely dissolve the department. Any plan to abolish the DOE must run through Congress — as Congress created the office — not the president. But the Trump administration could issue executive orders to limit and slowly remove the power of the department.
