Issue 10: The U.S. Department of Education
- Voice for Values
- Apr 2
- 5 min read
A Letter From Voice For Values Founder, Judy Stahl: My Brother's Defender
In the wealthiest country in the world, our Department of Education should be able to provide for the most vulnerable and impoverished children and students among us. It doesn't take a lot of intelligence to realize that this expenditure will also come back to us multiplied through the benefits of having an educated and cared for population.
My brother, who passed in 2003, was special. He was my baby brother and I was his defender. He was bullied, mercilessly, and the education system in the United States in the 1960's and 70's was not well set to support people with special needs. While school curriculum is determined in the individual states, basic decency is the keynote of the United States as a nation.
Our family moved from New York to Michigan in the mid-1970's. New York's education system, at the time, was not well set for special needs students. The state of Michigan had a much better education structure for students with special needs. My brother thrived where the system met his needs.
Our country has been known throughout the world for our Great Experiment, this Democracy, for almost two hundred fifty years. If the Department of Education is dismantled, what will happen to all the people who need defenders, like my brother? Please take action now to protect this important division of our federal government. It is where we demonstrate our humanity as a nation. This is exactly what our Democracy must stand for.
For the future,
Judy
Main Story: Why We Need a Functioning Department of Education
Last week, Donald Trump issued an executive order to nearly completely dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (Dept. of Ed). Now, we are seeing chaos reign at all levels of education. Constitutionally speaking, Trump is not able to completely shut-down the Dept. of Ed, not without an act of Congress. However, Senator Bill Cassidy, R-LA., has already promised to introduce legislation to permanently shut down the Dept. of Ed.
In light of this announcement, we at Voice for Values felt it was appropriate to dive into the many critical functions of the U.S. Department of Education.
What does the Department of Education Do?
The U.S Department of Education serves in a financial and regulatory role in education at all levels. The vast majority of its purpose is to manage federal education spending through grant awards to K-12 public schools & college-bound students, as well as serving as the largest source for student loans in the country.
The other major role of the Dept. of Ed is enforcing civil rights at all levels of education. The Office of Civil Rights within the Dept. of Ed is responsible for processing and investigating complaints of civil rights violations, providing policy guidance to bring institutions into compliance with federal civil rights law. If an entity does not comply, the Dept. of Ed reserves the right to withhold federal funding until schools come into compliance.
One of the most widespread misconceptions of the Dept. of Ed is that it is responsible for directly managing schools and setting curriculum. While the Dept. of Ed certainly provides guidance on these issues, direct school management and curriculum setting is left to states and local school districts.
What is the budget for the Department of Education? How is it spent?
For the fiscal year of 2025, Congress appropriated approximately $102 billion in federal funds, which equates to less than 1% of total federal spending. The bulk of this funding is earmarked for public schools and students seeking higher education. Another major misconception of the Dept. of Ed is that it is responsible for the whole sum of school’s funding. In fact, this is not the case. The reality is that federal funding accounts for only about 13% of total school funding. The rest is supplied by State and local governments.
Regardless of the minimal role the federal government plays in total public school funding, the financing it does supply is still a crucial resource to states. These funds are critical to ensure equal access to education and serve as an important enforcement tool of federal civil rights in schools and colleges. Moreover, the regulatory role the Dept. of Ed holds in setting standards ensures that education across the country is sufficient to prepare a student for college and careers, regardless of where they live.
Under Trump, states stand to lose billions in funds which are majorly designed to serve low-income and disabled students. The dismantling of these programs is likely to result in:
Higher state-level tax burdens to replace funding.
School closures in low-income areas.
Abandonment of civil rights enforcement & school non-compliance with Individual Education Plans for disabled students.
Our Take
There is some truth to the criticism that the Department of Education is inefficient. Civil rights complaints often take years to resolve, and student loan servicing is convoluted at best. While many Dept. of Ed critics deem this as sufficient reason to dismantle the department, we see this as an issue of lack of resources and man-power.
Prior to Trump’s cuts, the Department of Education employed approximately 4400 federal employees, making the Dept. of Ed the smallest cabinet department in the United States. Approximately 550 of these employees work in the Office of Civil Rights.
In 2023 alone, the Office of Civil Rights received over 19,000 civil rights complaints. So, we ask you, in what world could just 550 people process, thoroughly investigate, and provide guidance and enforcement for that many cases in just one year? The answer is that it’s not possible, hence the inefficiency. This is expected to only get worse with Trump’s executive order, which has left a mere five civil rights offices open nationwide.
This pattern continues when you look at student loan servicing. There are 42.7 million student borrowers in the United States, who collectively owe the federal government $1.64 trillion in debt. Approximately 1444 employees oversee this portfolio, requiring one employee to oversee the accounts of nearly 30,000 borrowers.
Again, the numbers don’t add up.
There is no doubt that the Dept. of Ed is bureaucratic, inefficient, and chronically understaffed, but the solution is not dismantling the whole department, especially when doing so will irreparably harm education access for low-income Americans of all ages. Instead we should be simplifying processes, increasing staffing across the board, creating tools for borrowers to self-manage loans, and using technology to speed up response times to civil rights complaints.
Take Action: Defend the Department of Education
As you know the Dept. of Education cannot be eliminated without an Act of Congress. The cuts that have been made thus far can also be undone by Congressional action. So, we implore you to call your Senators, defend the Department of Education, and demand that Congress fully staff and fund it once and for all.
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