A little over a month since President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 20 to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, and local education officials are still unsure of what its effects might ultimately mean.
In North Central Florida, students and school leaders alike have received little to no information about how this move might impact funding or support services. Alachua County Public Schools alone — which serves nearly 30,000 students — relies on about $21 million each year in federal funding.
The University of Florida’s students are also seeing changes, such as shifts in courses offered as concerns grow about the future of departments that rely heavily on federal support.
As these changes begin to occur, people are left with unanswered questions.
What does the executive order mean?
Trump’s order was designed to return the direction of education to families and the states after the government’s control of education “failed students, parents, and teachers,” according to the White House website. It also orders all bodies still receiving any of the department’s funds to not advance DEI or gender ideology, the website said.
The Department of Education oversees education policies, the enforcement of civil rights and distributing funding for students with disabilities and low incomes.
Christopher Thomas, an assistant professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Florida, said the executive order was “largely performative.” Only Congress has the power to shut the department down, and it’s unlikely the majority of Congress would be in support, Thomas said.
While the executive branch does not have authority to change any of the implementation and enforcement of the department’s laws, Thomas said t does have the authority over how executive agencies do their work. Although funding is set by Congress, the executive branch can decide how it’s spent. The Trump Administration staffs government agencies, which explains why the Department of Education’s employees were significantly cut, Thomas said.
“What we’re kind of seeing is a Department of Education that is still required to do all of the same things but doesn’t have the same staff to do all of the same things that it’s been doing,” Thomas said.
Under the executive order, Thomas said some of the language used indicates the order lacks impact without Congress’ approval. Section two of the order says “The Secretary of Education shall, to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education….”
The phrase “maximum extent, appropriate and permitted by law” indicates the actions of the order are very limited, Thomas said, as Congress oversees the roles and responsibilities of the Department of Education and the executive agency. The executive branch has no authority to change that.
Section three begins by saying “nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency,” among other things.
“The very executive order to close the Department of Education says that this order does not impair the authority of the Department of Education,” Thomas said. “That disconnect right there just kind of shows the lack of impact of this executive order.”
Despite the disparity between the balance of powers, concerns over possible implications of the order continue as the Trump Administration works to control what falls under its jurisdiction.
What have school districts been told?
As the federal government works to redistribute the responsibilities of the Department of Education, some school districts in North Central Florida have not received word of how they will be affected.
Jackie Johnson, the public information officer at Alachua County Public Schools, said the Alachua County School District has not received any communication from either the U.S. Department of Education nor the Florida Department of Education, which is where most of the district’s federal funding is implemented.
“We have no idea how any of this might affect us or even if it is going to affect us,” she said.
Alachua County Public Schools receive about $21 million per year from the U.S. Department of Education, which Johnson said is used for career technology programs and for special needs students. The schools also receive federal funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for their food service program, but Johnson said they have not heard if that program will be affected.
The redistribution of the Department of Education to other government agencies has not been officially outlined, so whether that will result in any changes or any reduction in funding is unclear, Johnson said.
Efforts to reach school district leadership in rural counties including Union County, Marion County, Putnam County and Columbia County were unsuccessful. It’s unclear what they’ve been told and what plans they are making.
What are the potential outcomes of the executive order?
As the responsibilities of the Department of Education are transferred to other agencies, there may be disruptions to the workflow regarding the agency’s responsibilities, including the allocation of student loans. This may result in a number of backlogs due to fewer staff members attempting to do the same amount of work, Thomas said.
There is also uncertainty regarding how the executive branch will choose to allocate the funding, but Thomas said he believes the money will continue to flow to the states and schools relying on federal funding.
“The question of who’s going to provide that money and who you’re gonna report to and all of that stuff, like that might be an open question,” Thomas said. “But the money is still being allocated by Congress and is still going to be dispersed.”
One of the offices that has seen staffing cuts is the Office for Civil Rights under the Department of Education, which is responsible for enforcing federal laws regarding anti-discrimination for students with disabilities, such as the Individuals With Disabilities Act. Under this act, students with disabilities were ensured a free public education with the least restrictive government.
Lindsay Kubatzky, the director of policy and advocacy at the National Center for Learning Disabilities, said without the critical staff to oversee these implementations, students with disabilities won’t have the necessary resources to ensure they’re receiving their proper education.
These staff cuts will also result in a deficit in those with expertise to provide guidance to parents and educators on how to ensure students with disabilities are receiving a high-quality education, Kubatzky said.
“The rights haven’t gone away, but how that’s being overseen has dramatically been diminished, because there’s just not anybody who’s in those roles to do that,” he said.
The Office for Civil Rights also oversees complaints regarding discrimination or retaliation complaints. In a given year, the office can receive up to 7,000 complaints related to disability discrimination, Kubatzky said. Without the proper attorneys with expertise in federal civil rights, the efficiency of resolving complaints is uncertain.
There have also been proposals to transfer responsibilities from the Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human services, which Kubatzky said is concerning.
“The Department of Health and Human Services isn’t an education agency,” he said. “It’s a health agency, and students with disabilities should be seen in a classroom, as in an education environment, and not in the medical environment, which is something that the disability community has fought for many, many decades.”