President Donald Trump has vowed to shutter the U.S. Department of Education, a move that could carry many implications for state and local governments, school districts, colleges and universities, as well as families and children who rely on these institutions.
The Trump administration is reportedly drafting an executive order aimed at curtailing many of the Education Department’s functions.
Closing the department wouldn’t represent doomsday for American education. Important federal funding could be maintained by other government agencies, as it was before the Department of Education’s creation by Congress in 1979.
But the $79 billion agency, which employs more than 4,000 people, offers key oversight of special education services and civil rights laws that could be at risk.
Backers of the conservative movement to end the department have looked to privatize education by expanding use of public money to attend private and religious schools. And they have sought to influence what is taught inside public schools.
So, what exactly is Trump planning to do, how would he do it and how would that affect local education in Illinois?
Here are some answers.
Trump cannot dismantle the Education Department unilaterally or by executive order
Trump cannot just close the Department of Education — or any other federal agency — through an executive order. That’s because Congress created the department and would have to shut it down.
There are some early efforts in the U.S. House to dissolve the agency, but their prospects for passing both chambers of Congress are uncertain.
The same goes for Title I, which distributes funding to schools serving high percentages of economically disadvantaged students, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which mandates a free and appropriate public education for children with disabilities. Both laws are administered through the Education Department but were created by Congress and would need to be repealed.
For now, Trump could work to undermine the Department of Education, Title I and IDEA in several ways.
He could propose slashing their budgets or even eliminating spending altogether. He or Congress could end certain federal grants or rewrite policies or guidelines that remove the federal education oversight that the department provides.
And he could gut the department of its personnel that administers these programs, hurting oversight of its programs, including Title 1, special education and enforcing civil rights laws. Trump has already ordered some Education Department employees to be placed on leave or fired.
Most of the funding for Illinois schools comes from state and local sources — not the federal government
If Trump’s attempts to limit federal education funding were eventually successful in Congress or by other means, Illinois and Chicago wouldn’t lose the majority of their education revenue. But they would be hurt.
Most school funding comes from local property taxes and the state.
This school year, for example, federal funding makes up about 16% ($1.3 billion) of the $8.4 billion Chicago Public Schools operating budget.
While some federal grants target adolescent health, career and technical education, and mental health services, the bulk comes through Title I and IDEA. Curtailing that money would mostly hurt school districts serving larger shares of students from low-income families or students with disabilities.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker last week called that federal assistance vital to families.
“If they take that away, that’s going to be highly detrimental to the people of our state,” he said. “So, I’m going to do everything I can to preserve that funding. I hope that that does not end up being a target of their attacks. They should know better.”
Curriculum decisions are made locally, but there are ways classrooms could feel the Trump actions
Trump’s views on what should be taught in public schools likely won’t have as big an effect in Chicago or Illinois as in right-leaning states, where curriculum battles have already been underway for several years.
That’s because decisions about school curricula are almost entirely made at the local level.
The Department of Education can issue guidelines, but states, cities and school districts routinely follow their own ideas.
Trump signed an executive order shortly after taking office that seeks to prevent lessons about transgender identities, white privilege and systemic racism, while promoting “patriotic education.” His administration doesn’t have the power to enforce those rules on any local school officials.
Trump is threatening to withhold funding for schools that defy his orders. But Title I and IDEA are the two most important federal funding streams, and those are allocated by Congress through formulas that the executive branch doesn’t have the authority to change on its own.
The White House appears to be challenging that view by welcoming lawsuits that could determine whether the president has the power to stop funding allocated by Congress.
Dismantling the U.S. Department of Education could make college financial aid harder to get — and decreases the odds of debt cancellation
Illinois residents owe more than $63 billion in federal student loan loans, which are overseen by the Education Department. Some borrowers were hoping their debt might disappear, but they are probably out of luck.
All together, the department manages more than $1.6 trillion in federal student loans through contracts with third-party loan servicers — and experts say that debt is not going anywhere. Trump has, in general, taken a hardline stance toward student loan borrowers and loan cancellation.
Instead, if the Department of Education is shut down or further eroded, borrowers could have even fewer options for affordable repayment programs. Loan cancellation, through programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness, could be delayed or no longer granted.
Illinois residents still in college or hoping to pursue higher education could feel the effects as well. Half of all undergraduate students in Illinois receive federal financial aid to help pay for college, according to federal data. One-third rely on the Pell Grant, a federal grant for students from low-income families.
The Department of Education oversees the administration of this aid, which amounts to about $120.8 billion in grants, work study funds and federal loans awarded nationally each year. That aid is accessed by submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which is also administered by the Education Department.
Last college application season clarified the impact of an already understaffed Education Department when it launched a new version of the FAFSA, which was supposed to be simpler and easier for students. Instead, glitches in the revamped application shut out some of the country’s most marginalized students.
An even more scaled-down department could lead to delays in distributing federal loans and grants for students.
Efforts by Trump to end DEI programs on college campuses are under review at local universities
As part of an executive order released during his first week in office, Trump threatened to investigate universities with endowments greater than $1 billion that engage in diversity, equity and inclusion work. Public and private universities in Illinois receive federal funding through financial aid programs for students and through funding for research.
The University of Chicago, Northwestern University and the University of Illinois System have endowments that qualify, and so far, leaders at the three institutions have not announced whether or not they will stand behind their DEI offices and programming.
In late January, University of Illinois System President Timothy Killeen was asked about Trump’s threats and said, “I’ve stopped using the term ‘DEI’ because I don’t know what it means anymore.”
“We want to be representative of the state we’re in too, and fairness is a good word for us,” said Killeen, who oversees the state’s two largest public universities. “We will be responsive to laws and what the agencies that fund us generously expect of us. We’re going to do … a deep, deep analysis of all the projects we have, line by line, and make sure that there’s no sense of discrimination.”