Trump wants to dismantle the Department of Education. Here are 6 services that could vanish
With the U.S. Department of Education on the chopping block, the agency is getting more scrutiny than usual. But what does the Department of Education do? Experts lament the impact the Department’s demise will have on some of its lesser-known roles.
“For instance, the DOE provides important federal oversight for implementation of legal mandates impacting immigrant students, and especially immigrant students who are English Learners,” says Brooke Kandel, dean and professor in the College of Education at Butler University.
“Additionally, the DOE collects and analyzes large scale data sets across states and sub-groups providing insights on academic achievement and program quality,” Kandel says, also noting that the DOE initiates funding sources and vets proposals for teacher training, including training specific to teachers of the English learner.
Here are some more lesser-known roles of the DOE.
Katy Neas, CEO of The Arc of the United States, is a former top Department of Education official, having served as Deputy Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary in the Office of Special Education under President Biden. Neas emphasizes the often overlooked role the Department takes in serving children with special needs.
“ It funds high-quality training for special education teachers, drives innovation in how we educate students with disabilities, supports parents, and enforces disability rights laws,” Neas says, adding that the Department also ensures that when students with disabilities are not able to access appropriate special education services, families have a way to fight back.
“In fact, the largest category of complaints filed with the Department of Education are from parents of students with disabilities who believe their children are being denied the education they need and deserve,” Neas says, noting that in many cases, the Department of Education works directly with school districts to resolve these issues and improve services.
The Department of Education provides literacy research and initiatives, supporting reading skill growth for students.
The Institute of Education Sciences, an arm of the DOE, provides guidance on best practices for improving literacy among K-12 students
“With recent data showing that approximately 70% of 4th and 8th graders are not reading proficiently, this is more needed now than ever. The importance of teaching our nation’s children to read is something we should all agree on, across any party lines,” says Louise Baigelman, founder and CEO of Storyshares, which focuses on developing literacy skills in adolescents.
Joseph South, Chief Innovation Officer at ISTE+ASCD, says the Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology has played a crucial role in technology adoption in schools, ensuring access for all, and coordinating responses to urgent issues like broadband expansion and cybersecurity.
“Without this centralized guidance, states and districts risk inconsistent access to high-quality educational technology and face greater challenges in navigating emerging technologies like AI in education,” South says.
The Department of Education tracks student achievement over time through the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly referred to as the “Nation’s Report Card.”
“This is essentially the yardstick that measures student achievement in subjects like math, science, and reading,” says Dan Ulin, founder and CEO of Elite Student Coach in Los Angeles, California. He mentors exceptional college-bound teens to gain admission to top-tier schools and laments the potential loss of that “report card.”
Grading Colleges
Elise Miller McNeely, senior education manager at Ithaka, a nonprofit organization devoted to improving higher education access, says the Department collects information about colleges and makes the data available on the College Navigator and College Scorecard websites, so that families can compare different colleges and universities.
“Even if you have never been to those websites, you’ve likely consulted the data because the Department makes the data available to be used by private colleges guides and states as well,” McNeely says.
For those who have daughters that play sports, the Department of Education ensures equal access to opportunities. If there is a boys basketball team, then there has to be a girls basketball team. If the boys have a bowling team, then girls have to be included too. Although recently the Department of Education has been using IX to curtail transgender inclusion in sports.