Recent changes to the U.S. Department of Education, including nearly halving the department’s workforce, have left education advocates and public school leaders scrambling.
The Trump administration made it clear that dissolving the Department of Education and cutting budgets for certain public schools programs was a priority. On March 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order calling on department leaders to begin dismantling the Department of Education.
The order has two major directives: task the Department of Education to begin dissolving itself and ensure that remaining funds dispersed by the Department do not go toward Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) or “gender-ideology” programs.
However, the executive branch won’t be able to change things quite so drastically on its own: The road to complete dissolution will require support from Congress.
Meanwhile, the Department will continue to operate its basic duties, including formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students, and grantmaking, the Department said in a press release.
Read on for what Michigan parents should know about the Trump administration’s changes to the Department of Education.
Changes to the Department of Education
The Department of Education’s workforce cut went into effect on March 21, 2025. The cut puts nearly half of all staff on administrative leave, and the Trump administration says it’s only the beginning.
School leaders and public education activists across Michigan have raised alarm at the proposed change to how education is handled at the federal level.
State Superintendent Michael Rice publicly disagreed with the administration’s move in a statement last week.
“As educators, we must continue to keep our eyes on our most important goal—educating and supporting our children,” said Rice in a press release from the Michigan Department of Education. “At the end of the day, I do not believe the U.S. Department of Education will be shuttered.”
“What’s more concerning is the president’s effort to cut federal funds and the effect on students with disabilities, poor children, children experiencing homelessness, English learners, and other children who require more funding to local school districts to educate and support,” he added.
However, the Department of Education was not formed by Congress until 1979, reports NPR, and its general duties could be handed off to other government agencies if Congress allows it.
Whether those other agencies would be able to maintain those important roles to the same standard, like overseeing federal financial aid for college students and enforcing discrimination laws, is unclear.
How quickly a massive change like dissolving the department could happen is also foggy. In addition, the Trump administration’s plans for the Department of Education will likely be challenged in court.
Federal funding impacted for Michigan schools
The Department of Education provides funding for students who require more support, like those with disabilities, English language learners and students living in poverty.
In Michigan, roughly 13.8 percent of the budget for K-12 education came from federal funding 2023, reports the Midwest branch of the Education Trust.
The Trump administration has said that federal funding will still be available, it will just be up to other entities to disperse it.
The change concerns many education advocates who worry that without the oversight of the Department, states could use the money to fund students at private schools, reports the Associated Press.
Democratic state attorney generals across the nation have filed a joint lawsuit attempting to block the layoffs at the Department of Education.
Michigan state attorney general Dana Nessel is among the plaintiffs for the case. In a March press release, Nessel’s office laid out its argument, stating the executive branch does not have the power to incapacitate the Department of Education without approval from Congress.
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