Explainer: What Dismantling the Department of Education Really Means [Podcast]

What does it mean for the country that President Trump has signed an executive order to begin dismantling the Department of Education? Leslie Babinski, a researcher who focuses on education and former director of the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy talks about this extraordinary change with guest host Anna Gassman-Pines, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.

Conversation Highlights

Responses have been edited for clarity. 

On what the Department of Education actually does

It's not surprising that people wouldn't really know what it does because it does lots of different things. It provides funding to states for schools with low-income students, it provides funding to states for students with disabilities. It administers the federal support for college students through Pell Grants, the federal work-study program, and Federal Student Loans. It tracks and monitors educational progress across the United States, so comparing states to one another and how we're doing compared to other countries. And it ensures equal access to students through the Office of Civil Rights. I think a lot of people don't realize [that it] touches many students and their families.

On the scale of the impact of dismantling the department

It's massive. We're looking at 7.4 million students with disabilities who could potentially be impacted by changes with funding through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.  [Nationally,] we have 26 million students from low-income backgrounds in all areas in urban, rural, and suburban communities that [depend] on federal Title I funding to improve their achievement in schools. We know that there are six states where more than 20% of their budgets come from federal sources, and those states are going to be impacted if those federal dollars are changed up in any way. There are 9.8 million students in rural schools who depend on federal support for bridge funding in communities with more limited local tax bases. There are 6.6 million Pell Grant recipients who rely on student federal aid to attend college, and 40 million Americans have student loans that are managed by the federal government.

 It's going to impact so many people. If it doesn't impact you and your family directly, you'll know someone who is impacted.

 I'm not saying that all these things are going away, but [with] the lack of clarity and the high level of uncertainty about what federal agencies will manage these programs, who will be in charge of them, who are the staff, we [will] have lost a lot of our expertise in these programs at the federal level. There are definitely going to be bumps in the road in how these are administered as we make any transition, and that's what I'm worried about.

On the difference between federal and state roles 

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There are a number of things that I think are misunderstandings maybe about the Department of Education. One is that it doesn't employ any teachers. It doesn't run any schools. It does not dictate what is taught in our public schools. It does not dictate when it is taught. It does not dictate how we teach it. The US Department of Education really has no role in the curriculum that's being implemented in our public schools.

The other thing that I think is really surprising to people that only about 10% of funding for our public schools comes from federal sources. When you hear, "We're going to return education to the states;" well, actually the states have always had control of education, along with local districts.

Two of those things that I mentioned earlier that the federal government does provide funding for are really critical: the funding to low-income schools through Title I, and also the funding for students with disabilities.

So if we think about handing that funding over to the states to make their own decisions, they may or may not prioritize those groups in terms of enhancing the educational opportunities for students from low-income communities or students with a range of disabilities.

On the loss of national level data

The National Center for Education Statistics, often called NCES, is what tracks and monitors education progress across the United States. Most, if not all of those staff have been laid off.

We're also losing access to national and longitudinal data sets that include that really essential information so we could track progress over time. And so, there are some real concerns right now with that loss of technical expertise, who's going to be able to do that? That's really a national level effort. You can't do that within any individual state.

On the loss of support for national level research on education

The Institute of Education Sciences or IES has played a vital role in the development of new educational technologies, learning what works and learning about the cost benefits of the different programs and policies and approaches in education.

[For example] one of the things that we all know that's going to be impacting teaching and learning in schools is the use of AI, both in terms of teachers planning lessons and modifying instruction for specific students' educational needs, as well as students themselves using AI as part of their learning process. It's exploding right now.

How will districts and state superintendents know which programs are worth investing in? Where the guardrails for those programs?  We know there are going to be serious potential safety concerns about personal identity and data security and all things like that. And it just seems overwhelming to leave that up to individual districts to figure out.

On what to keep in mind moving forward

For me, the most important thing to remember is that every child deserves access to a high-quality education. As we change the way public schools are funded, and we think about changing [the] funding [model] for particularly the most vulnerable populations (students with disabilities, students from low-income communities) to really think about our collective responsibility for ensuring that all of our children have a high-quality education.

It's really to everyone's benefit for every child to be as successful as they can be.

This is an extraordinary time in education where some groups who maybe don't have a voice or don't have advocates might get overlooked. I think it's going to be really important for all of us to be committed to providing support for our teachers who work extremely hard, and support for our public education system so that all children have access to that quality education.

Leslie Babinski is a research professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, where she's also a professor of psychology and neuroscience. She formerly led the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy.