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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The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Education Funding Opinion The Federal Shutdown Is a Rorschach Test for Education
Polarization, confusion, and perverse incentives turn a serious discussion into a stylized debate.
Rick Hess, October 20, 2025
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7 min read
Education Secretary Linda McMahon appears before the House Appropriation Panel about the 2026 budget in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2025.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon appears before U.S. House of Representatives members to discuss the 2026 budget in Washington on May 21, 2025. The U.S. Department of Education laid off 465 employees during the federal government shutdown. The layoff, if it goes through, will virtually wipe out offices in the agency that oversee key grant programs.
Jason Andrew for Education Week
Federal Education Department Layoffs Would Affect Dozens of Programs. See Which Ones
Entire teams that work on key funding streams may not return to work even when the shutdown ends.
Mark Lieberman, October 16, 2025
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3 min read
Illustration of 2 hands cutting paper dolls with scissors, representing staffing layoffs.
iStock/Getty
Law & Courts Judge Halts Trump Admin.'s Layoffs at Ed. Dept. and Other Agencies
More than 400 workers at the diminished agency had been told their last day would be Dec. 9.
Brooke Schultz, October 15, 2025
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5 min read
Students from Rosebud Elementary School perform in a drum circle during a meeting about abusive conditions at Native American boarding schools at Sinte Gleska University on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in Mission, S.D., on Oct. 15, 2022.
Students from Rosebud Elementary School perform in a drum circle on Oct. 15, 2022. The Todd County district, which includes the Rosebud school, relies on the federal Impact Aid program for nearly 40 percent of its annual budget. Impact Aid payments are on hold during the federal shutdown, and the Trump administration has laid off the federal employees who administer the program.
Matthew Brown/AP
Education Funding Many Districts Will Lose Federal Funds Until the Shutdown Ends
And if federal layoffs go through, the Ed. Dept. would lack staff to send out the funds afterward, too.
Mark Lieberman, October 15, 2025
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7 min read
The exterior of the U.S. Department of Education building is pictured on Oct. 11, 2025, in Washington.
The exterior of the U.S. Department of Education building is pictured on Oct. 11, 2025, in Washington. The agency on Tuesday told more than 250 office for civil rights employees they've been laid off, just days after starting another round of layoffs during the federal government shutdown.
Aaron M. Sprecher via AP
Federal Ed. Dept. Tells More Than 250 Civil Rights Staff They've Been Laid Off
The layoffs come just days after the agency began a new round of staff reductions during the shutdown.
Brooke Schultz, October 14, 2025
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4 min read
Itinerant teacher April Wilson works with Zion Stewart at Bond County Early Childhood Center in Greenville, Ill., on Sept. 29, 2025.
Teacher April Wilson, who works with visually impaired students, works with a student at Bond County Early Childhood Center in Greenville, Ill., on Sept. 29, 2025. The latest round of layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education will leave the federal office of special education programs with few staffers.
Michael B. Thomas for Education Week
Federal Ed. Dept. Offices Will Be Virtually Wiped Out in Latest Layoffs
The U.S. Department of Education is losing about a fifth of its already diminished workforce.
Mark Lieberman & Brooke Schultz, October 13, 2025
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9 min read
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought speaks to reporters after Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought speaks to reporters after Democratic and Republican congressional leaders met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Sept. 29, 2025. Vought announced Friday that federal layoffs during the shutdown have begun, and those layoffs will hit the U.S. Department of Education.
Allison Bailey/NurPhoto via AP
Federal A New Wave of Federal Layoffs Will Hit the Education Department
Multiple divisions will lose staff members, according to the union representing agency staffers.
Brooke Schultz, October 10, 2025
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3 min read
North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler announces the gathering of a task force to look into future options the state has for the assessment of students during a press conference May 8, 2015, at the state Capitol in Bismarck, N.D.
North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler speaks at a press conference on May 8, 2015, at the state capitol in Bismarck, N.D. Baesler will serve as assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education after her Tuesday confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP
Federal Senate Confirms Longtime North Dakota Schools Chief for Top Ed. Dept. Role
Senators approved a batch of Trump nominees that also included others to top Education Department posts.
Brooke Schultz, October 7, 2025
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3 min read
Screenshot of a portion of a response email blaming Democrat Senators for the government shutdown.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty
Law & Courts Ed. Dept. Workers' Union Sues Over Emails Blaming Democrats for Shutdown
The lawsuit challenges an automatic email from furloughed staff that blames U.S. Senate Democrats for the government shutdown.
Brooke Schultz, October 6, 2025
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3 min read
School entrance with a flag in background.
iStock/Getty
Federal How the Federal Government Shutdown Is Affecting Schools: A Tracker
Education Week monitored how the federal government's shutdown affected schools and other education functions.
Mark Lieberman, October 3, 2025
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1 min read
People stop to take photos of the U.S. Capitol building on Oct. 2, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
People stop to take photos of the U.S. Capitol building on Oct. 2, 2025, in Washington. Out-of-office email messages from U.S. Department of Education employees during the government shutdown blame Democrats for the lapse in funding. Employees said the messages were set without their permission.
Samuel Corum/Sipa via AP
Federal Ed. Dept. Out-of-Office Emails Changed to Blame Democrats for Shutdown, Staff Say
Staffers say they were instructed to use nonpartisan messages, then they were changed.
Brooke Schultz, October 2, 2025
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4 min read
A commuter walks past the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education on March 12, 2025, in Washington.
A commuter walks past the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education in Washington on March 12, 2025. A federal court sided with the Trump administration this week, allowing it to proceeds with laying off half of the department's office for civil rights.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Law & Courts Appeals Court Says Ed. Dept. Can Fire Civil Rights Staff
Office for civil rights employees had already begun returning to work under a court order
Brooke Schultz, September 30, 2025
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4 min read
Protesters gather at the State Capitol in Salem, Ore., on Feb. 18, 2019, calling for education funding during the "March for Our Students" rally.
Protesters call for education funding in Salem, Ore., on Feb. 18, 2019. The Trump administration has relaunched two school mental health grant programs after abruptly discontinuing the awards in April. Now, the grants will only support efforts to boost the ranks of school psychologists, and not school counselors, social workers, or any other types of school mental health professionals.
Alex Milan Tracy/Sipa via AP
Education Funding Trump Admin. Relaunches School Mental Health Grants It Yanked—With a Twist
The administration abruptly discontinued the grant programs in April, saying they reflected Biden-era priorities.
Matthew Stone, September 26, 2025
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6 min read
New teacher participants at the summer institute participate in a professional development activity in June 2025 in Washington.
New teacher participants at the summer institute engage in a professional development activity in June 2025 in Washington. The training is funded by a National Professional Development grant, the fate of which is now in limbo as the Trump administration cuts some of these programs.
Courtesy of Laureen Avery
English Learners Trump Admin. Cuts Some Teacher-Training Grants for English Learners
The Trump administration has cut funding for some English learner PD grants, sparking confusion and prompting appeals.
Ileana Najarro, September 25, 2025
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6 min read
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