Even before Donald Trump took office, Republicans have been aiming to dismantle the Department of Education since its inception in 1979. Ultimately, on March 11, 2025, Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon ordered a Reduction in Force of the Education Department, resulting in almost half of the Department’s staff (nearly 2200 people) being put on leave or taking voluntary retirement/resignation. She justified this action by expressing her desire to reduce “bureaucratic bloat”. More recently, on April 10, over 1300 employees on leave were served with “reduction in force (RIF) action” terminating their positions. They were told that these cuts were not merit-based, but were due to the shrinking number of positions in the Department. McMahon justified the RIF in an interview with Fox News by saying, “If you were in a private sector, this would be an audit”.
However, the Education Department is not part of the private sector. Unlike businesses in the private sector, the Department of Education assumes responsibility for funding programs that ensure justice in public schools. If the Department’s aim is to improve the lives of students, what is the possible motivation for the Trump Administration’s dismantling efforts, and how will they affect students with disabilities?
What the Department of Education Isn’t
According to McMahon, the reason the president wants to shutter the department is because he wants to ensure federal resources are directed to the states and specifically to parents, students, and teachers. However, only 14% of funding for public schools currently comes from federal funding, and this funding is for programs that support the most vulnerable students, such as those in low-income schools and students with disabilities.
By combatting the involvement of the federal government in school curricula, the Administration may be referring to the Race to the Top program, which was authorized by former President Barack Obama. This measure encouraged schools to adopt a federal government-created Common Core—a set of national standards that students had to achieve to ensure academic success. However, Congress deemed this measure too invasive and, as such, passed the Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015. ESSA deemed that the federal government could not develop curricular decisions and standards for public schools. These decisions would be made by state and local governments instead. So, in effect, the President’s efforts to dismantle the Education Department would reinforce a law that is already in place, and the abolition would fall short of Trump’s goals.
Instead, it is the President’s intention to deny schools the ability to teach subjects he deems inappropriate, such as “Critical Race Theory and transgender ideologies”. However, the federal government does not currently control the subjects taught in schools; this responsibility falls to the states. Thus, the effect the President intends to have by abolishing the Department would actually give more power to the federal government to control curriculum, the exact opposite of what he promises to do.
What does the Education Department Do for Students with Disabilities?
The Department of Education supports students with disabilities through the funding of supportive programs like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This funding is pivotal since 15% of students have a disability, and 95% of students with disabilities learn in public schools. Approximately 13% of a school’s budget for students with disabilities comes through IDEA.
IDEA funding allows schools to offer students the necessary accommodations to thrive in the classroom. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), students should be educated in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) possible, an environment that allows students to spend as much time in the general education classroom as is appropriate. This may take the form of assistive technology, such as voice-activated computers and word-processing software, but it also might involve being pulled out of class for small-group instruction and then spending the remainder of the school day in a general education classroom. Only in cases where students have needs that cannot be met in a general education classroom are they taught exclusively in a separate classroom. Services funded by IDEA make achieving the LRE possible.
Accommodation Plans Made Possible by IDEA
To ensure students are taught in the LRE, school professionals must draft accommodation plans. There are two types of plans, 504 Plans and Individual Education Programs (IEPs), which are legally binding.
According to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 504 plans mainly help students who need assistance with tasks such as “caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, breathing, and learning” and generally require a diagnosis from a medical professional. Since the assistance students need is largely prescribed by an external professional, 504 plans require less input from school professionals than IEPs. These plans sometimes involve instruction for students exclusively in a specialized learning environment, requiring specially trained teachers, as well as assistive technology. 504s are designed to level the playing field so that students with disabilities can experience standard school days.
IEPs, on the other hand, primarily help students with learning disabilities. These students can thrive in the general education classroom with additional support, such as teaching aids and specialized reading and math instruction. Since these plans provide more accommodations within the general education classroom, they are more intricate and require more input from school staff than 504 plans.
To qualify for an IEP, students’ disabilities must fit into at least one of thirteen categories prescribed by IDEA. Testing can also be done at school, requiring a professional qualified to administer testing onsite. The IEP team involves more school professionals than a 504 plan—a special education teacher, general education teacher, administrator, and a professional responsible for in-house testing. Plans include goals, current performance levels, accommodations, and assistive technology needed.
Ramifications of Trump’s Executive Order if Passed
On March 20, 2025, Trump signed an Executive Order calling for the dismantlement of the Education Department. However, Trump cannot enact the executive order without the approval of Congress. It is unlikely that this executive order will be approved because it would require the support of Democrats. Still, Trump hopes to repurpose the functions of the Department. To this end, many of the cuts that have already taken place have been from the Office for Civil Rights, which protects students and teachers from discrimination. Already, seven out of 12 regional Civil Rights offices have closed in the past month. Trump also curtailed research of the education of students with disabilities by effectively shuttering the government’s education research arm, the Institute of Educational Sciences. In the past, this research has provided information about how well students with disabilities are performing and ways the government can improve services received.
Under IDEA, the rights of students with disabilities will be protected. McMahon, who did not know what IDEA stood for, called for federal money to be disbursed to states with fewer “guardrails” In effect, states could spend money previously earmarked for IDEA on whatever they wanted, including private schools, where the civil rights of students with disabilities are not protected. Trump has also determined that matters relating to students with disabilities will be handled by the Department of Health and Human Services, headed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK). RFK has a history of spreading medical misinformation, including the belief that autism is caused by vaccines (he later recanted this view). In effect, despite Trump’s confidence in the future for students with disabilities, his actions actually ensure that many students will be left behind.
Fighting Back
However, many government officials are fighting back against proposed changes. On April 2, twenty-three Senators wrote a letter to McMahon decrying the abolition of the Department of Education. In the face of the restructuring of the Department and the effective shutdown of the research institute, the Senators expressed concern over the very real possibility that, going forward, students with disabilities would be less supported in their educational endeavors than they are now. They also emphasized that Health and Human Services, an already overstaffed and overstretched department, would treat disabilities as a medical issue.
Most alarmingly, the Senators reminded McMahon of the limitations students with disabilities faced before the passage of IDEA. At that time, disabilities were considered to be medical issues and, as such, many students were institutionalized. In fact, only twenty percent of students with disabilities received an inclusive public school education. To counteract this, the Senators posed twelve questions calling for clarification on how the federal government will continue to support students with disabilities going forward. McMahon did not reply.
More significantly, eleven Democratic Senators wrote to the Education Department’s Inspector General, René Rocque, expressing concern over the Department’s restructuring and mass layoffs under the Trump Administration. Rocque responded by opening an investigation into the transformation of the department and its effects on the future of American education. Rocque said her office would conduct “a series of reviews to provide information on the Department’s programs and operations following recent workforce changes.” She plans to provide an update this summer. Only time will tell what effects this investigation will have on the Department.
About the Author: Taylor Hamilton is a fellow with The Loreen Arbus Accessibility is Fundamental Program, a fellowship created with Women’s eNews to train women with disabilities as professional journalists so that they may write, research and report on the most crucial issues impacting the disabilities community.
