President Trump campaigned on the idea of dismantling the Department of Education (DOE). In February, he put out an executive order to shrink the department. The implementation of the initial executive order had been stalled in the courts. It was blocked by a federal judge in Massachusetts and then taken up by the Supreme Court. But on Monday July 14, the Supreme Court decided that the executive branch can continue with its plan to reduce the size of the department by 50%.
So, what happens now? How will this decision impact education? And when and how will teachers feel the effects? We spoke with two education policy experts about what this decision means for teachers and the upcoming school year.
First, what does the DOE do?
The main work of the DOE is to set a vision for education and implement that through funding its priorities. It administers about 10% of school funding, administers the Office for Civil Rights, implements federal assessments (the Nation’s Report Card, or the NAEP), provides research grants, and oversees the student loan programs.
Congress defines what the DOE does, and the Supreme Court ruling doesn’t change that. What the court ruling does is provide the executive branch with more power to decide who is doing the work of the DOE and how large the department is. So, the 1,300 people who were placed on administrative leave earlier this year can now be fired, creating a long-term reduction in staff. This will have an impact on how the DOE administers the Office for Civil Rights, school funding, testing, and reporting, all of which may be felt this school year.
What happens when there are fewer people working at the DOE?
One expert we spoke with is Michael Hansen, senior fellow at the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. Hansen explained to us that while the federal government does not run individual schools or set local curriculum, teachers may still feel the effects of this decision—though not always directly. Instead, the impact is likely to be felt in more subtle, indirect ways.
A reduced Office for Civil Rights
Aaron Pallas, the Arthur I. Gates Professor of Sociology and Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College, told us that the most alarming change is the closing of local offices of the Office for Civil Rights. That office plays a critical role in protecting students from discrimination, especially students with disabilities, English language learners, and others who may be vulnerable. So far, according to Alice O’Brien, general counsel for the National Education Association (NEA), seven out of the 12 regional field offices of the Office of Civil Rights have been closed.
Without these local offices, complaints could be dismissed or delayed, leaving students in environments that aren’t supportive or equitable. This may have an impact on students with disabilities, says O’Brien, as complaints of disability discrimination make up more than half of the complaints that the office receives. It’s also a broader signal from the White House, adds Michael Hansen, that federal oversight of such complaints may no longer be a district-level concern.
Instability in school funding
The Supreme Court decision may also impact how federal funds get administered at the local level. About 10% of local school funding comes from the federal government, and that money has to be administered, says Pallas. Without skilled people to administer that money, there is a risk the money may not make it to the right place at the right time. The impact on districts and teachers will depend on the funds and what they are intended to do, but without civil servants to administer funding, there is the potential of having chaos in the system. “When there is a risk that the money isn’t going to show up,” says Pallas, “systems can be disrupted, and that can be bad for students.”
Narrowed federal testing
The National Assessment of Educational Progress, the federal assessment of student progress that is administered every four years, is congressionally mandated, so it will continue. However, it has been reduced. The department is still producing NAEP, but assessments in subjects other than math and reading have been cut. This means no more data on writing, civics, science, and other topics. As teachers, we know that what is tested is prioritized, so narrowing the NAEP could mean narrowing education overall.
Less information and reporting
The DOE regularly produces reports, like the National Reading Panel report, which has shaped a lot of reading instruction and research. With fewer people in the DOE, fewer of these reports will be produced. Already, notes Hansen, the first Trump administration annual Digest of Education Statistics had about one-third of the content compared to years past. This doesn’t have a huge impact on teachers’ daily lives, but it does limit the information that we learn about what’s happening in schools.
The administration has also effectively eliminated the Institute for Education Science, O’Brien told We Are Teachers. This means that, in 2025, for the first time in the Department’s history, Congress was not provided with an annual report on the state of education. “They simply no longer have the staff or research support to collect, analyze, and report on the condition of education as required,” says O’Brien.
A shift in the bully pulpit
The people who work in the DOE “are not political hacks,” says Hansen. “They are not people who have strong political ideologies. They are trying to do what Congress has mandated in allocating funds for education.” The fact that they are politically neutral in their work is important. When civil servants are fired and the people who are left are more politically motivated, it can impact how the DOE functions. For example, the Trump administration has already slowed the work of the Office for Civil Rights and shifted investigations to focus on its own priorities, such as ending participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports, instead of addressing racial discrimination.
What teachers can do
On one hand, stay informed. The court fights are not over. Hansen anticipates that more court cases will continue in the lower courts. All the cases that are pending will continue, says O’Brien, including two by the NAACP and NEA that challenge the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the DOE, currently pending in the District Court of Maryland. Pallas anticipates a school year that feels more chaotic, which is concerning because “schools, districts, and teachers benefit from stability.”
Teachers can also learn about the supports their district receives through the DOE and what will happen to their district if those supports are removed. Understanding how these changes impact your community prepares you to speak out and educate others. “The time is right now to push back against this full-scale attack on the Department of Education,” says O’Brien, “and the role it plays supporting students and education across the country.”