Stop the Dismantling of Federal Education Programs and Workforce

Since inauguration, the Trump administration has aimed to eliminate the Department of Education, a plan forecast in Project 2025. While it requires an act of Congress to officially eliminate a federal agency, the administration has taken numerous actions to slowly dismantle the agency’s programs and workforce and evade congressional oversight.

• They announced plans to transfer key responsibilities of the Education Department to other federal agencies; administration of international programs will move to the State Department, K-12 education will move to the Labor Department, and child care and special education will move to Healthcare and Human Services under RFK, Jr.

• In accordance with the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” they proposed a new federal rule to redefine certain professional degrees, including programs for nurses, physician assistants, educators, and social workers. This change will subsequently decrease the student loan caps for these degree programs.

• During the government shutdown, the team that oversees special education services for 7.5 million children with disabilities was nearly eliminated. The White House also gutted the teams that oversee civil rights enforcement and federal funding for low-income students.

These changes would slash federal funding for public schools, eliminate support for students with disabilities, end enforcement of civil rights protections in education, and abolish federal student loan and workforce development programs. This is a direct attack on students, teachers, and families—one that only benefits right-wing extremists who seek to privatize education.