Fellow educators, please stop panicking. I know our profession is beleaguered already and Mango Mussolini is making it worse. But it needs to be said loud and clear:

Trump Can't Shut Down the Department of Education

Only Congress can do that. The Trump admin may make it appear as if they have shut it down by reassigning it's duties and staff to another department, but the money will still flow.

Limits on Executive Orders

While the White House often leverages Executive Orders to bypass Senate deliberations, they remain subject to scrutiny and documentation in the Federal Register. They can also be deemed unlawful by federal courts. Judicial review is critical to ensure the separation of powers. In fact, the Supreme Court determined during the Korean War that executive orders must fit within a certain sphere of power and cannot simply defy Congressional intent.

Any attempt to cut off funding from the Department of Ed will be met with lawsuits from numerous states, even red states.

NPR has a good explainer on what the Department of Ed does.

Salient Points:

Most public school funding comes from state and local governments. The federal government, in general, provides only a small fraction of schools' overall funding – between 6 and 13%, according to a 2018 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Two of the most important federal funding streams to public schools are:

• Title I, which provides money to help districts that serve lower-income communities. In 2023, the Education Department received more than $18 billion for Title I.
• IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), which provides money to help districts serve students with disabilities. In FY 2024, the department received more than $15 billion for IDEA. 

Both of these funding streams were, like the department itself, created by separate acts of Congress: Title I was signed into law in 1965, and IDEA was signed into law in 1975. They cannot be unwound except by Congress. Large changes to either are unlikely, as the money enjoys broad bipartisan support.

If they cut off the flow of money they will be facing lawsuits from the majority of states.

Suggested Further Reading to Support my Thesis that We All Need to Relax and Stop Catastrophizing

Trump-voting states will lose the most federal funding if the Department of Education is Axed

Trump is Acting LIke a King to Hide the Fact that He is Powerless (YouTube)

Thank you for attending my Ted Talk.

Happy teaching!