Department of Education: Latest developments show agency in crosshairs
News about the fate of the Department of Education is swirling, with rising concerns that Elon Musk’s DOGE personnel are accessing sensitive student data.
Aside from the murky implications for K12 and higher education, Musk has claimed on X that the education department does not “exist,” according to MSNBC.
On Friday, Democratic members of Congress were barred from entering the Department of Education, The New York Times reported. The lawmakers attempted to visit with acting education secretary Denise L. Carter, who had not responded to an earlier request for a meeting about whether President Donald Trump intends to close the department, the newspaper said.
The Associated Press also noted the lawmakers’ fears that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is now examining student loan databases and other systems. Those concerns have sparked a lawsuit from college students in California, according to USA Today.
The University of California Student Association claims DOGE is “violating privacy laws and federal regulations by infiltrating computer systems that house student financial aid information” in its lawsuit filed Friday.
Transgender students
Last week, Trump signed an executive order restricting transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports in K12 and higher ed. The administration has gone further, according to ProPublica.
The investigative website reported the Department of Education has told employees that it will cancel all programs that don’t affirm biological sex, such as mental health counseling.
This is what a smaller Education Department might look like
(LAST UPDATE: Feb. 5) This week’s reports contained few specifics about President Donald Trump’s initial steps to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. Some in the K12 world are now filling the void around the ramifications of the agency’s potential demise.
Two state education superintendents are looking forward to greater local control of their K12 systems. Idaho’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield told KMTV that students will be better off if states have more influence but was less sure about how schools will be funded.
“Federal funding, for instance, remains a key component in how we fund education here in Idaho,” Critchfield said. “How those dollars would be distributed under a new model is something I will closely monitor.”
Megan Degenfelder, Wyoming’s superintendent of public instruction, told Cowboy State Daily that she expects “red tape” and other rules will be eliminated if the department closes. Degenfelder envisions states deciding how to spend education funding that will be allocated directly as block grants.
But National Education Association President Becky Pringle warned the most vulnerable students will suffer if the Department of Education disappears. Pringle said the move could “explode class sizes, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle class families, take away special education services for students with disabilities, and gut student civil rights protections.”
“Eliminating the Department of Education is equivalent to giving up on our future,” Pringle said in a statement.
An NEA analysis detailed the programs under the most threat:
- Distributing Title I funding as block grants—as proposed in Project 2025—would eliminate oversight of how states spend the funds. Another analysis warned that 180,000 teaching positions could be lost in low-income communities.
- Moving the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act program to another agency could mean less support for the 7.5 million students who now receive $15 billion in services.
- Moving the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to the Department of Justice could “severely weaken its ability to protect students against discrimination based on race, gender, and disability.”
- Disruptions to Pell Grants, federal student loans, and loan repayment and forgiveness programs would limit students’ access to higher education and drive current college students to drop out.
How does the Department of Education end?
The Trump administration is reportedly drafting an executive order that would begin shrinking the Department of Education. He is then expected to call on Congress to pass legislation abolishing the agency.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has introduced such a bill, which contains just one sentence: “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2026.”
“States and local communities are best positioned to shape curricula that meet the needs of their students,” Massie said in a statement. “Schools should be accountable. Parents have the right to choose the most appropriate educational opportunity for their children, including homeschool, public school or private school.”
