The education establishment has had a stranglehold on America’s children for decades.
Donald Trump promised to take bold action.
And Donald Trump set the education establishment on fire with this game-changing move.
Trump takes historic action on the Department of Education
President Donald Trump delivered on one of his biggest campaign promises when he signed an Executive Order that would begin dismantling the Department of Education.
During his campaign, Trump was explicit about his plans, stating, “I will close the Department of Education and move education back to the states where it belongs.”
On March 20, 2025, he made good on that promise, signing the Executive Order during an event with GOP Governors in the White House East Room.
“Beyond these core necessities, my administration will take all lawful steps to shut down the department. We’re going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible,” Trump declared.
The Order directs the Secretary of Education to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States” while ensuring the “effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
The Department of Education’s costly failure
According to the White House Fact Sheet, the Department of Education has spent over $3 trillion since its creation in 1979 without improving student achievement.
The results speak for themselves.
Mathematics and reading scores in public schools have declined dramatically, despite per-pupil spending increasing by more than 245% since the 1970s.
13-year-olds’ mathematics scores are the lowest they have been in decades, while reading scores are the lowest since testing began more than 30 years ago.
The situation is even worse in some urban areas. In 2023, 13 Baltimore, Maryland, high schools had zero students who tested proficient in mathematics.
Ending wasteful spending and ideological programs
The Biden Administration wasted more than $1 billion in grants focused on what the White House calls “entrenching radical ideologies in education.”
Trump’s Executive Order specifically directs that programs or activities receiving any remaining Department of Education funds “will not advance DEI or gender ideology.”
The Trump Administration recently canceled $226 million in grants under the Comprehensive Centers Program that the White House said “forced radical agendas onto states and systems, including race-based discrimination and gender identity ideology.”
McMahon takes charge of the dismantling
Education Secretary Linda McMahon confirmed she is fully on board with dismantling the very department she leads.
“When he asked me to serve as the secretary of Education I knew exactly what his mandate was, which is to close the Department of Education,” McMahon said during a Thursday interview on WABC 770 AM’s “Cats & Cosby.”
McMahon revealed that Trump has been clear about his expectations of her. “He has joked, but he’s dead serious about the fact that he wants me to fire myself,” she explained.
The Education Department has already taken significant action, laying off 1,315 staffers earlier this month to comply with the President’s mandate.
A new vision for American education
Trump’s plan doesn’t just dismantle federal control – it offers a new vision for education in America.
“I want every parent in America to be empowered to send their child to public, private, charter, or faith-based school of their choice,” Trump stated while speaking on parental rights in education. “The time for universal school choice has come. As we return education to the states, I will use every power I have to give parents this right.”
The Executive Order represents a fundamental shift in how education is governed in America – away from federal bureaucrats and back to parents, communities, and states.
Key programs will continue under new management
McMahon has already begun planning where essential educational programs will be housed after the department closes.
“The Title 1 funding and the funding under IDEA, which is for our special needs and handicap children, could very well go under HHS,” McMahon explained, referring to the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Secretary [Robert F.] Kennedy [Jr.] and I have already had discussions about that. He fully believes that they would be very properly managed and funded . . . through HHS,” she added.
McMahon acknowledged that while she can take many actions on her own authority, completely eliminating the agency will require Congressional approval.
“One of the things I’ve asked to have provided to me is a list of those actions that I can take without Congress, and those that I will need Congress’s approval for. Clearly, shutting down the agency would be an act of Congress. It was set up by an act of Congress,” McMahon said.
Bureaucratic burden on schools ends
One of the most immediate impacts of dismantling the Department of Education will be lifting the regulatory burden it places on schools.
According to the White House, the Department’s “Dear Colleague” letters have forced schools to redirect resources toward complying with ideological initiatives, diverting staff time and attention away from their primary role of teaching.
Under the Biden Administration, the Department of Education added rules imposing nearly $3.9 billion in costs and 4,239,530 paperwork hours.
Eliminating these burdens could free up substantial resources for actual classroom education.
The battle for education’s future
The dismantling of the Department of Education represents a significant victory for parents’ rights and educational freedom that will reshape American education for generations to come.
McMahon has promised transparency throughout the process. “The President said in his executive order that we would be abiding by the law and in cooperation with Congress to get this done. My goal is to be completely transparent with Congress as we look to how to move these programs into different agencies,” she stated.
Critics are likely to challenge the order legally, but Trump’s team appears confident that returning education to the states is both Constitutionally sound and the right policy direction.
As this historic change unfolds, one thing is clear: The days of Washington, D.C. bureaucrats controlling what America’s children learn are coming to an end.
