What the Department of Education Does (and Does Not) — and Why It Is a Target

Perhaps you know a child who attended preschool at Head Start, or a student who utilized federal student loans to access college. Some of you who are teachers may have received recommendations based on research about an effective teaching method for early readers. Perhaps a child who lives on your street required accommodations for their disability in order to attend school. These situations all represent someone’s interface with the Department of Education.

The following questions and answers provide an overview of points to consider about what the Department of Education does and does not do. 

How and when did the Department of Education originate?

As the nation grew in population, so grew the challenge to ensure education for its children. By 1976, the National Education Association petitioned presidential candidates and the federal government to send help. President Jimmy Carter signed the Department of Education into existence in 1979 after an act was passed by the legislative process. The department has administered five main functions ever since. 

Before that, in 1897, President Andrew Johnson established an entity called the Department of Education, which bears little resemblance to the department of the past five decades. Meant to serve the federal government in tracking data about schools, it fizzled by the next year.

This relatively young agency has experienced controversy over its existence and roles. The United States Constitution makes no mention of education as a national priority, yet the Supreme Court has ruled that education is a “public right,” and each state constitution has included the responsibility associated with educating its citizens. In present-day political discourse, Republicans generally favor a smaller department, and Democrats generally favor more department involvement.

What does the Department of Education do?

Many Americans perceive the Department of Education as larger in scope than it actually is. It does not set curricula or operate public schools; local states and school districts do. The department does indirectly inform curriculum based on required performance standards. Its main functions are key in providing education for all; however, public schools receive only 10% of their annual budget from the Department of Education, while 90% comes from their local districts and states/territories. In 2024, the department managed more than 4,000 employees and a $268 billion budget, or 4% of the federal budget.

Given limited power by Congress, this administrative agency establishes rules that govern how the funding they control is to be used. The department’s main duties ensure that through research, distribution, and regulation of funds, all students receive the same access to education, and civil rights are protected.

1. Federal Student Aid program: The Department of Education administers student financial aid for higher education through grants and loans. Think PELL, FAFSA, unsubsidized and subsidized loans, and parent PLUS loans.

2. Funding for students with disabilities: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensures that students with disabilities, younger students with early learning needs, and other discretionary grants fulfill the requirement of free public education and supplemental programs. Think Head Start, Early Intervention, and individualized education programs (IEPs).

3. Funding for students experiencing poverty: Title I funding attempts to close education gaps by supplementing state and local funding to provide equal access to students from lower-income families. Think counseling, teacher’s aides, and afterschool programs.

4. Enforcing civil rights laws: This arm of the department enforces civil rights laws (e.g., Title IX, which, in part, provides access to women’s sports and cracks down on sexual harassment) in colleges, universities, public schools, and more. This enforcement extends to vocational rehabilitation, museums, and libraries that receive funding from the Department of Education. It regulates the funds it has distributed. Think special education classrooms and student discrimination complaints. 

5. Data collection: The department also serves as a data collection source for how civil rights laws are working in the nation’s schools and what more needs to be developed. Think funds for research to determine the most effective of two math-learning methods for young children.

What is the Department of Education most recognized for?

No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)

Many know the phrase “no child left behind.” The NCLB Act responded to American students' declining test scores compared to the improving scores in other competitive countries. The added concern that impoverished and homeless children were falling through the cracks added to the pressure for a solution. A bi-partisan act encouraged by community and business leaders and signed in 2002 by President George W. Bush, NCLB also significantly increased the role of the federal government in student achievement and education. It became controversial for tying federal money for Title I schools to their students’ performance on standardized tests and its “prescriptive” nature.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

To understand what happened after NCLB became fraught, we must look back at a law intended to cover additional costs of educating less-advantaged students. Enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act did just that in the form of Title 1 funding. Until NCLB, this funding provided for more students’ educations and has grown the role of the Department of Education in local educational institutions.

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

President Obama’s administration recognized the constraints of NCLB and the importance of providing funds to disadvantaged students. In response, they re-enacted Johnson’s ESEA and updated Bush’s NCLB in the form of the new Every Student Succeeds Act in December 2015. Updates included supporting more local innovations for education, preschool expansion, high academic standards requirements with an emphasis on post high school education, and maintaining accountability for low-performing schools.

Higher Education Act of 1965 or Federal Student Aid (FSA) 

By 1965, more Americans were attending college than ever before, and the need for supplemental funding grew. Signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, the Higher Education Act began to provide that funding and expand the Office of Education. Today’s Department of Education houses the Office of Federal Student Aid, which determines eligibility and disperses funds for higher education such as PELL grants and student loans to emancipated students and those whose families fall in lower income brackets. 

FSA is widely recognized across the country, as most people have either accessed the benefits themselves or know of someone who has a PELL grant or is paying back a student loan. FSA says its 1,400 employees help make postsecondary education possible for more than 9.9 million students each year. The office publishes an annual report of their actions and funds disbursement.

What are the arguments for dismantling the Department of Education? 

Dismantling the Department of Education has been a long-time goal of some members of the Republican party who want to remove educational obligations from the federal government by dispersing funding to states instead. The current administration has made it widely known that they want to shut down the Department of Education for similar reasons. A 2009 report by the Government Accountability Office found weakness within the department and raised alarms about the amount of money being managed without proper oversight.

Most agree that parental involvement in a child’s education benefits all. Some say parents should be making more decisions about their children's education and moving away from “radical indoctrination” — and that the federal government stands in the way. Examples of rejecting “indoctrination” include banning books that include LGBTQ references and prohibiting teaching about the country’s role in the transatlantic slave trade.

The effectiveness of the Department of Education is also under scrutiny over the ever-widening gap between students’ high and low scores on standardized tests. Proponents of a federal department shutdown call for reallocating the funds to states, which will make more targeted plans for improvement, and placing federal programs under the umbrella of other federal departments, such as Federal Student Aid, to the treasury or commerce departments.

In short, the arguments for a Department of Education shutdown call for a smaller federal government, more spending oversight, more flexibility, and more parental choice over curriculum. 

What would it take to close the Department of Education?

Only Congress, not the president, can shutter the Department of Education. The Senate would need to secure a majority vote of 60 to dismantle the entire department, and most agree it would be difficult to gain that level of support from the current and closely divided body.

What are the arguments for maintaining the Department of Education?

The Democratic party has argued for federal oversight to protect civil rights — especially for students of public schools — obtained after the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Bipartisan parents, educators, and researchers today value policies the Department of Education provides for otherwise disadvantaged students, though Democrats more often advocate to continue centralizing the efforts via the department. 

As the only agency uniquely positioned to provide data about how many schools, teachers, and students exist across the nation, the Department of Education plays a critical role in maintaining and improving services to children and families. The department is also the only entity that studies whether programs are working, where there are gaps in learning, etc. Decades of data and institutional knowledge help streamline research and ultimately save money through internal coordination.

While the current administration campaigned on giving control of education back to the states, the argument for maintaining the Department of Education says control is already with the states. States enjoy control of curriculum and the development of programs and facilities. Some argue that without federal oversight of the funds, states could use funding in ways that overlook disadvantaged students and potentially chip away at progress made toward equity. Other voices worry that dismantling the federal education department is a step toward defunding public education altogether.

In short, the arguments for maintaining the Department of Education include more oversight of equity for all students, a unified platform for conducting research and advocating for children, and a prevention of duplication and/or the disorganization of information and errant spending by states.

You or someone you know has likely intersected with a program or service provided by the Department of Education. Knowing more about this department empowers us to form our own opinions and advocate with confidence for what our communities need.

This article was written by Sherilyn Stevenson, lead researcher/writer for Mormon Women for Ethical Government.