Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Empowers Parents, States, and Communities to Improve Education Outcomes

Fact Sheets

TLDR

This “fact” sheet misrepresents presidential authority by directing the closure of the Department of Education, which only Congress can eliminate. The administration has already weakened the department by cutting staff and limiting civil rights enforcement. The order ignores the department’s critical functions in managing funding for vulnerable students, protecting civil rights, providing educational data, and administering financial aid. It prohibits federally-funded programs from “promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, or gender ideology,” potentially undermining civil rights protections. Dismantling the department would remove essential resources that millions of students depend on.

This “fact” sheet is for an associated order aimed at dismantling the Department of Education. While the order claims to “return education to parents and communities,” a closer analysis reveals significant misrepresentations and concerning implications.

The executive order directs the Secretary of Education to “facilitate the closure” of the Department of Education, but this fundamentally misrepresents presidential authority. Only Congress has the power to eliminate a Cabinet-level agency, as the department was established by Congress in 1979. The president cannot unilaterally abolish it through executive action.

Despite this limitation, the Trump administration has already taken substantial steps to weaken the department by:

  • Terminating approximately half of its workforce
  • Significantly reducing its education research division
  • Sharply limiting the scope of its civil rights enforcement offices

The fact sheet claims the Department of Education “does not directly educate students,” implying it has no valuable function. This mischaracterizes the department’s actual mission and impact:

  1. The department manages billions in critical funding for vulnerable student populations through programs like Title I (for low-income schools) and IDEA (for students with disabilities).

  2. The Office for Civil Rights ensures students are protected from discrimination based on race, gender, and disability.

  3. The department provides essential data that helps identify and address educational disparities.

  4. It administers Pell Grants, federal student loans, and loan repayment programs that 30% of college students rely on to access higher education.

The fact sheet selectively uses statistics to suggest federal involvement has failed to improve education:

  1. Blaming the Department of Education for pandemic-related learning loss ignores that schools were primarily closed due to public health concerns, not federal education policy.

  2. While citing declining test scores, the fact sheet fails to acknowledge that dismantling the Department would likely worsen outcomes for vulnerable students by eliminating critical funding and protections.

  3. The claim that increased spending hasn’t improved education oversimplifies a complex issue. Federal contributions only constitute about 10% of nationwide K-12 funding, with states and local districts providing the majority.

Eliminating or severely weakening the Department of Education would:

  1. Without federal oversight, students with disabilities, low-income students, and minority students would lose critical protections and resources.

  2. Removing federal guardrails would likely widen existing disparities between wealthy and poor districts and between states.

  3. Millions of students rely on federal financial aid programs to attend college, which would be disrupted by the department’s closure.

  4. The gutting of OCR regional offices has already reduced the federal government’s ability to protect students from discrimination.

The executive order prohibits any programs receiving Department of Education funds from “promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, or gender ideology”. This restriction undermines civil rights, and could prevent schools from implementing programs designed to address documented disparities affecting marginalized students. It also mischaracterizes educational initiatives, and frames equity-focused programs as “radical ideologies” rather than efforts to ensure all students have equal educational opportunities.

The dismantling of the Department of Education would not solve educational challenges but would instead remove essential protections and resources that millions of students depend on, likely worsening the very statistics the administration claims to be addressing.

RETURNING EDUCATION TO PARENTS AND COMMUNITIES: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order returning power over education to families instead of bureaucracies.

  • The Executive 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 continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.
  • The Order also directs that programs or activities receiving any remaining Department of Education funds will not advance DEI or gender ideology.

DISMANTLING BUREAUCRACY AND EMPOWERING FAMILIES: Federal government control of education has failed students, parents, and teachers.

  • Since its relatively recent inception in 1979, the Department of Education, which does not directly educate students, has spent over $3 trillion without improving student achievement as measured by standardized National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores.

    • Federal taxpayers spent around $200 billion in additional education funding during COVID-19, which, given the substantial learning loss that resulted, typifies the ineffectiveness of the current federally driven model.

  • Mathematics and reading scores are down in public schools, despite per-pupil spending having increased by more than 245% since the 1970s, indicating that more spending does not mean better education.

    • 13-year-olds’ mathematics scores are the lowest they have been in decades.

    • 13-year-olds’ reading scores are the lowest since testing began over 30 years ago.

    • Low-performing students are falling further behind.

    • In 2023, 13 Baltimore, Maryland, high schools had zero students who tested proficient in mathematics.

  • The Department of Education burdens schools with regulations and paperwork.

    • Its “Dear Colleague” letters have forced schools to redirect resources toward complying with ideological initiatives, which diverts staff time and attention away from schools’ primary role of teaching.

    • Biden’s Department of Education added rules that imposed nearly $3.9 billion in costs and 4,239,530 paperwork hours.

  • Taxpayers will no longer be burdened with tens of billions of dollars wasted on progressive social experiments and obsolete programs.

    • Under the Biden Administration, the Department of Education wasted more than $1 billion in grants focused on entrenching radical ideologies in education.

    • Biden’s Department of Education rewrote Title IX rules to expand the definition of “sex” discrimination to include “gender identity.”

    • The Trump Administration recently canceled $226 million in grants under the Comprehensive Centers Program that forced radical agendas onto states and systems, including race-based discrimination and gender identity ideology.

FULFILLING PROMISES TO PARENTS AND STUDENTS: President Trump has outlined a bold vision for America’s schools and returning education back to the states.

  • During his campaign, President Trump said “I will close the Department of Education and move education back to the states where it belongs.”
  • While speaking on parental rights in education, President Trump spoke of a dramatic rethinking of schools: “I want every parent in America to be empowered to send their child to public, private, charter, or faith-based school of their choice. 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.”
  • Since returning to office, President Trump has already signed an Executive Order to expand educational freedom and opportunity for families, recognizing our government-assigned education system has failed millions of parents, students, and teachers.