Department of Education

Read more about the actions and functions of the U.S. Department of Education

Explainer

The U.S. Department of Education, in Washington, D.C., pictured on February 21, 2021.
The U.S. Department of Education, Explained
There's a lot of talk—again—about eliminating the U.S. Department of Education. Here's what it does and how it works.
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WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 17: The U.S. Department of Justice Building on August 17, 2026 in Washington, DC.
The U.S. Department of Justice Building on Aug. 17, 2026 in Washington. The Justice Department has teamed up with the U.S. Department of Education to fight school and state policies concerning transgender students it deems objectionable.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Law & Courts Trump Admin. Turns to Student Privacy Laws in Gender Identity Fights With Schools
The feds are increasingly citing student privacy laws in gender-identity battles with school districts.
Mark Walsh, September 17, 2026
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8 min read
TahSoGhay Collah, right, teaches a third-grade English learners class at the 700-student intermediate school that serves grades 3 through 5, in Worthington, Minn., on Oct. 22, 2024.
TahSoGhay Collah, right, teaches a 3rd grade English learners class in Worthington, Minn., on Oct. 22, 2024. Researchers seeking federal grant funding to train more teachers to work with English learners requested letters of support from state leaders to submit competitive applications this year.
Jessie Wardarski/AP
Education Funding What 'Returning Ed. to the States' Looks Like as the Ed. Dept. Awards Grants
State leaders face requests for letters of endorsement from grant applicants under new priorities.
Ileana Najarro & Maya Riser-Kositsky, September 11, 2026
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7 min read
Letters on the Department of Education building are missing after removal of America 250 banners, which included those of Booker T. Washington, Catharine Beecher and Charlie Kirk, on March 18, 2026, in Washington.
Letters on the Department of Education building in Washington are missing in this March 18, 2026 photo. The Trump administration continues to push for the agency's closure while also touting its help for states.
Allison Robbert/AP
Federal Trump Admin. Touts Ed. Dept.'s Help for States as It Tries to Shut It Down
The Trump administration pushes the Education Department's closure, while touting its help for states.
Mark Lieberman, September 9, 2026
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6 min read
MINNEAPOLIS, MN, January 22, 2026: Students at Washburn High School fill the stairwell during passing time in Minneapolis, MN.
Students fill the stairwell in between classes at a high school in Minneapolis on Jan. 22, 2026. The U.S. Department of Education has released data designed to highlight disparities in schools, but it did so quietly and without issuing a report highlighting top-line findings.
Caroline Yang for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Ed. Dept. Releases Data on Schools' Racial Disparities Months Late
The data is supposed to highlight racial, ethnic, and disability-based disparities in schools.
Stephen Sawchuk & Matthew Stone, September 2, 2026
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6 min read
Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) testifies on the OMB budget during a House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on June 4, 2025.
Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, testifies during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 4, 2025. OMB has been slow to release congressionally appropriated funding to the Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education's research arm. IES now has just weeks to spend $180 million before it expires.
SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
Education Funding Ed. Dept. Risks Letting $180 Million for Research Expire as Deadline Looms
Spending by the agency's research arm has lagged most significantly compared with previous years.
Mark Lieberman, September 2, 2026
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6 min read
Jeanette Vyhanek, a counselor at Wellstone Elementary, teaches a class of kindergarten students at the St. Paul school on Oct. 31, 2025 in Minnesota.
Jeanette Vyhanek, a counselor at Wellstone Elementary in St. Paul, Minn., teaches a class of kindergarten students on Oct. 31, 2025. Federal grants to expand the ranks of school counselors and other school mental health services were among hundreds terminated by the Trump administration in 2025. New rules from the U.S. Department of Education would give the federal agency greater latitude to end in-progress grants.
Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune via TNS
Federal Ed. Dept. Would Have More Power to Cut Off Grants Under New Rules
The agency last year ended in-progress grants worth more than $2 billion, with courts often objecting.
Matthew Stone, August 26, 2026
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5 min read
A student raises her hand to ask a question in her third grade classroom at Highland Elementary School in Columbus, Kan., on Oct. 17, 2022. The arm of the government that oversees education data which tracks educational outcomes for students, faces major challenges ahead due to financial cuts.
A student raises her hand to ask a question in her 3rd grade classroom at Highland Elementary School in Columbus, Kan., on Oct. 17, 2022. Federal education data-gathering, like the Condition of Education report, includes baseline information on students and schools. But cuts to the Education Department's statistics wings and mounting criticism of how it operates raise questions about how it can best fulfill its mission.
Charlie Riedel/AP
Federal Q&A Education Data Collection Has Cratered Under Trump. Can It Be Rebuilt?
Ed. Dept.'s data-gathering agency is too unstable to adapt to changing needs, a new report claims.
Sarah D. Sparks, August 25, 2026
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6 min read
Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Kirsten Baesler speaks during the National Forum on Education Policy in Washington, DC on Wednesday July 8, 2026.
Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education Kirsten Baesler speaks during the National Forum on Education Policy in Washington on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. Baesler urged educators to ensure ed tech is delivering results for students, rather than focus single-mindedly on the amount of time students are spending on screens in class.
Demetrius Freeman for Education Week
Classroom Technology It's About Quality Tech Use, Not Screen Time, Trump's Top K-12 Official Argues
Trump administration's top K-12 official urges educators to focus on whether ed tech is effective.
Alyson Klein, August 20, 2026
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5 min read
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights for the Department of Education nominee Kimberly Richey testifies before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee about her nomination in Washington, D.C., on June 5, 2025.
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberley Richey testifies before the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee at her nomination hearing in Washington on June 5, 2025. A new letter to educators from Richey instructs schools not to consider race at all in school discipline policies, following the Trump administration's rescission of longtime anti-discrimination rules.
Jason Andrew for Education Week
Federal Education Department Tells Schools Race Can’t Factor Into Student Discipline
A letter to educators follows up on last month's rescission of longstanding discrimination rules.
Mark Walsh, August 18, 2026
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5 min read
A sign from the General Services Administration is posted outside of the Department of Education headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Friday, July 17, 2026.
A sign installed by the General Services Administration is posted outside the Department of Education headquarters in Washington on July 17, 2026. Despite shifting its programs to other agencies, the Education Department will send billions of dollars in formula funds for schools through its own grants portal on Oct. 1, rather than a portal run by the Department of Labor.
Eric Lee for Education Week
Education Funding Education Department Will Keep Sending Most K-12 Funds Through Its Own System
The agency will send formula funds through its own system again despite program shifts to other agencies.
Mark Lieberman, August 17, 2026
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5 min read
The Department of Education headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Friday, July 17, 2026.
The Department of Education headquarters in Washington on Friday, July 17, 2026. Federal funding for education research may be starting to flow, even as the overall spending picture remains unclear.
Eric Lee for Education Week
Federal After Months of Standstill, Ed. Dept. Announces New Federal Research Funding
The agency outlined its fiscal 2027 grantmaking amid questions about its sluggish spending.
Stephen Sawchuk & Mark Lieberman, August 11, 2026
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7 min read
A collage-style illustration of images of the U.S. Department of Education building, the U.S. Capitol building, and dollar bills on top of a wooden school desktop with a pencil on it and a school bus underneath. The dollar bills appear to have been punched out with a hole punch in a few areas, and those missing circles are sprinkled on the desk and school bus below.
Illustration by Emily Wright for Education Week + Getty
Education Funding Trump's Education Department Is Letting Tens of Millions of Dollars Expire
Education Week found the agency didn't spend its full budget last year and appears on track to do so again.
Mark Lieberman, August 4, 2026
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10 min read
Dr. Stephanie Cross, a professor at Georgia State University, photographed in her home in Brookhaven, Georgia.
Stephanie Lee Behm Cross, a professor at Georgia State University, stands in her home in Brookhaven, Ga., on July 13, 2026. Cross ran a teacher-residency program funded by a U.S. Department of Education grant until the funding was abruptly terminated in February 2025.
Dustin Chambers for Education Week
Education Funding Trump Cut Their Education Grants. Here’s What Happened Next
Grantees whose work ground to a halt last year lament broken promises and abandoned projects.
Mark Lieberman, July 31, 2026
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15 min read
DFreeman EDW CH 041
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., listens as Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., speaks during a Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee session on July 30, 2026 in the U.S. Capitol in Washington. The committee voted to advance a measure that would block many of the Trump administration's transfers of Education Department programs to other agencies.
Demetrius Freeman for Education Week
Federal Senate Panel Advances Bill to Block Much of Trump Admin.’s Ed. Dept. Dismantling
The bill pushes back, but only partially, against Trump's efforts to end the 46-year-old department.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, July 30, 2026
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5 min read