The Trump administration is making good on its promise to shrink the bloated federal bureaucracy, starting with the Department of Education. Education Secretary Linda McMahon recently announced that her department has signed six interagency agreements with four other federal departments – Health and Human Services, Interior, Labor, and State – to shift major functions away from the Education Department.
These agreements will redistribute responsibilities like managing elementary and secondary education programs, including Title I funding for low-income schools, to the Department of Labor; Indian Education programs to the Interior Department; postsecondary education grants to Labor; foreign medical accreditation and child care support for student parents to Health and Human Services; and international education and foreign language studies to the State Department, to agencies better equipped to handle them without the added layer of bureaucratic meddling.
Interagency agreements, or IAAs, aren’t some radical invention. They’re commonplace in government operations. The Department of Education already maintains hundreds of such pacts with other agencies to coordinate on everything from data sharing to program implementation. What makes this move significant isn’t the mechanism – it’s the intent. By offloading core duties, the administration is systematically reducing the department’s scope, making it smaller, less essential, and easier to eliminate altogether. This approach is the next logical step in a process aimed at convincing Congress to vote to abolish the agency entirely.
Remember, the Department of Education was created by an act of Congress in 1979, so dismantling it requires congressional action. In the Senate, that means overcoming the filibuster, which demands a 60-vote supermajority. Without it, Republicans would need a handful of Democrats to cross the aisle – or they’d have to invoke the “nuclear option” to eliminate the filibuster for this legislation.
Conservatives have wisely resisted that temptation. Ending the filibuster might feel expedient now, but it would set a dangerous precedent, allowing Democrats to ram through their big-government agendas – like expanded entitlements or gun control – with a simple majority the next time they hold power. It’s better to build consensus and preserve the procedural safeguards that protect limited government.
The Trump team’s strategy is smart: It breaks down the bureaucracy piece by piece, demonstrating to the public and lawmakers that other agencies can handle education-related workloads more efficiently. Why prop up a standalone department riddled with waste when existing structures can absorb its functions? The administration’s approach goes beyond administrative housekeeping to serve as proof of concept that education policy belongs closer to home, not in the hands of distant D.C. officials.
Of course, the only ones howling about sending education back to the states are the teachers unions and the politicians in their pockets. Groups like the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) thrive on centralized power. It’s easier for them to influence one federal agency where they’ve already sunk their claws than to battle for control across 50 states and thousands of local districts.
We’ve seen this playbook in action. During the COVID-19 pandemic, unions lobbied the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – another federal entity – to impose draconian guidelines that made school reopenings nearly impossible. They held children’s education hostage, demanding billions in taxpayer-funded ransom payments through stimulus packages.
The unions’ power grab isn’t new. The Department of Education itself was born as a political payoff. Democrat President Jimmy Carter created it in 1979 to secure the NEA’s endorsement for his reelection bid. It’s no secret that teachers unions have long controlled Democrat politicians, but even some Republicans aren’t immune.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) came out swinging against dismantling the department, claiming it was established “for good reason.” That “good reason” apparently includes his own ties to the unions. Fitzpatrick is the only Republican in Congress currently endorsed by the NEA. Back in 2018, the NEA even backed him over a Democrat challenger. Over the years, he’s raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from public-sector unions. Is it any wonder he’s against Trump’s plan?
Meanwhile, more than 98% of the NEA’s political donations went to Democrats in the last election cycle, yet less than 10% of their total funding went towards representing teachers. Follow the money, and you’ll see why federal control suits them just fine.
Sending education to the states would empower local communities, where parents and educators know best what’s needed. It would also mean more dollars reaching actual classrooms instead of lining the pockets of useless bureaucrats in Washington. Federal education spending gets skimmed at every level, with administrative overhead siphoning off funds that could buy books, hire teachers, or upgrade facilities.
Critics claim abolishing the department would gut protections for vulnerable students, but that’s a red herring. Federal special-needs laws, like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, predated the department and can continue without it. Civil-rights enforcement in schools doesn’t require a dedicated agency; the Justice Department and other entities already handle similar oversight. Moreover, the word “education” appears nowhere in the US Constitution. The department’s very existence arguably violates the 10th Amendment, which reserves powers not delegated to the federal government to the states or the people.
The evidence against federal involvement is damning. Since the department’s inception, Washington has poured about $3 trillion into K-12 education. Achievement gaps between rich and poor students haven’t closed, and in many cases, they’ve widened. Overall academic outcomes have stagnated or declined. Per-student spending, adjusted for inflation, has surged 108% since 1980, yet test scores remain flat. The US spends more per pupil than nearly any other developed nation, but our results are an international embarrassment.
The Trump administration has already taken decisive action to chip away at this failed experiment. They’ve slashed millions in diversity, equity, and inclusion grants that promote division rather than learning. Thousands of department employees have been let go, streamlining operations and cutting costs. The unions are probably gearing up to sue over these latest interagency agreements. But they tried that before – challenging the administration’s personnel reductions – and lost at the Supreme Court. The chief executive has clear authority to manage the executive branch, and the unions would likely face another defeat if they push this latest move to litigation.
It’s time to end the charade. The Department of Education focuses on control rather than helping kids. By dispersing its functions and proving the sky won’t fall, the Trump team is paving the way for real reform. America’s students deserve better than a federal fiefdom beholden to special interests. Let’s send education back where it belongs: to the states, the localities, and the families who know their children best.
