WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has said he wants his new education chief, Linda McMahon, to ‘’put herself out of a job.‘’
Since Trump took office, staffing at the Education Department has been cut in half, and he has been mulling an executive order to close the agency.
Eliminating the department altogether would be a cumbersome task, which likely would require an act of Congress.
Already, the Trump administration has started overhauling much of the department’s work. Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has cut dozens of contracts it dismissed as ‘’woke'' and wasteful. It gutted the Institute of Education Sciences, which gathers data on the nation’s academic progress.
The agency’s main role is financial. Annually, it distributes billions in federal money to colleges and schools and manages the federal student loan portfolio. Closing the department would mean redistributing each of those duties to another agency. The Education Department also plays an important regulatory role in services for students, ranging from those with disabilities to low-income and homeless kids.
Indeed, federal education money is central to Trump’s plans for colleges and schools. Trump has vowed to cut off federal money for schools and colleges that push “critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content” and to reward states and schools that end teacher tenure and support universal school choice programs.
Federal funding makes up a relatively small portion of public school budgets — roughly 14%. Colleges and universities are more reliant on it, through research grants along with federal financial aid that helps students pay their tuition.
Here is a look at some of the department’s key functions, and how Trump has said he might approach them.