The Unfilled Promise To Abolish The Department of Education

For nearly fifty years the Republican Party has promised to disband the agency that refuses to perish. Is it in danger now?

Nov 12, 2024

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As always, thank you for reading! — Courtney

In 1980, Ronald Reagan was hot on the campaign trail. One of the promises he made that year was to abolish the (only months old) Department of Education. (DOE)

Forty-four years later, the department persists. Making this one of the longest Republican campaign promises, that may never come to fruition.

I will not say that there is no reason to be concerned with Trump’s proposal and what it may mean. Much like abortion, his aim, in theory, is to let the states decide how to run education, and slash a portion of the federal budget as a result. It seems like nothing more than typical Republican, small government rhetoric. Yet, for all the programs the Department of Education runs, if passed this time, it could have far reaching implications. This series, will aim to give some historical background on why the GOP has been unable to abolish the DOE, as well some truths of what it might mean if they are finally able to accomplish disbanding or forever altering the department in 2025.

The Department of Education was not a new idea when it was formally cemented as a government agency in 1980. In fact, the roots of the department can be traced back to just after the Civil War. In 1867 President Andrew Johnson signed the first legislation into law that would create the precursor to the DOE. The agencies main goal was to collect statistics and data on the nation’s schools.

The 1950s saw an expansion of several agencies to increase funding for science programs after the Soviet launch of Sputnik. A decade later, President Lyndon Johnson would declare a “War on Poverty”, which would increase federal funding for impoverished students from early education through post-secondary. However, all of the funding came through several agencies. It would not be until October of 1979, that legislation would pass to encompass all the agencies under one umbrella; the U.S. Department of Education. Jimmy Carter signed the bill, and it officially went into effect in May of 1980.

The result of the Reagan and the Republicans quick condemnation of the newly minted department would be a battle that would rage for decades, but perhaps only in stump speeches. The data shows a very different story than the one multiple candidates for various offices throughout the years, have tried to paint.

First, there is little support for the abolition of the DOE. In a 2021 education survey, only 15% of registered Republicans and 3% of registered Democrats support doing away with it.

So, why do we feel like we are constantly under the threat of losing what is arguably one of the most important agencies in the country?

I am not sure I have a concrete answer on that. When I consider the reasons, I am often reminded of a famous scene from the premiere episode of the 2012 television show The Newsroom where the main character, Will McAvoy explains how the conservative mind works:

“Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paychecks, but he [gesturing to the conservative panelist] gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn't cost money, it costs votes. It costs airtime and column inches.”

Replace the ‘NEA’ with the ‘DOE’ and you have the idea.

Education accounts for approximately 5% of all federal discretionary spending. Yet, Republicans will continually tout it as one of the main drivers of “bloated government”. It doesn’t cost much for primary and secondary education, in terms of the federal budget, but the Democratic Party is constantly on the defensive over it. It doesn’t cost much, but it does “cost airtime and column inches”, and ultimately votes.

The puzzling thing is that despite all the posturing, most Republicans have actually supported education and the DOE when it came down to the budget or other legislation.

President George W. Bush infamously signed the “No Child Left Behind Act” in 2002, which added $14.3 billion to impoverished schools, (63% increase) and $12 billion (a 67% increase) to the DOE budget. This is a far cry from the 1996 GOP Platform which called for the Department to be abolished entirely.

Between 1984 and 2017, there would be several bills introduced in Congress to abolish the Department of Education. They all died in committee before receiving a floor vote. The argument has been made that the DOE is not Constitutional, as “education” is not a function of the government. Heritage Foundation and project 2025, is banking on the Supreme Courts ruling on Chevron Deference to put a final nail in the DOE coffin.

It would be fair to say that we are in a different world right now. Yet, we can see some historical patterns from the first Trump presidency, which should allow room for a small sense of relief.

When President Trump was sworn in in 2017, so was a new Congress with a Republican majority. It was the first Republican trifecta since 2005. Trump had already begun calls for the DOE to be disbanded prior to winning the election. However, when it came time for the budget, the DOE was not only still standing, but received an increase in funding.

For his first budget proposal, Trump called for the funding to be reduced by 13%, compared to the previous year budget. Instead, Congress would settle on raising the budget from $68.2 billion to $71.4 billion. He would not fare better the following year. In 2019, Trump proposed that the budget be slashed by 10%. Congress would answer back with another raise in funding. This time by $1.3 billion dollars.

While we know that cutting DOE funding is actually widely unpopular with voters and Congress; there is not much data past the 2021 survey, noted earlier in this article, we can see that government spending didn’t even make the list of issues that voters thought were the most important this election. Like Will McAvoy said, it doesn't account for much, but Dems will be hit repeatedly over it. They have been for four decades. However, we also had confidence that we would not see abortion turned over the states either, and well; here we are.

The larger question will be how many Congressional Republicans refuse to entertain such a notion. There will be more of them, than seems likely. However, that does not mean that there isn’t the possibility that they alter the way that the funding is distributed, or cut funding for certain programs.

The most likely vehicle for this will be block grants. These grants are specifically called for in Project 2025. The nature of block grants is that they are one large sum, given to the state to do with as they like with very little, if any, federal oversight. Typically, there are state laws that will mandate how the grant is spent. However, it will vary so greatly by state, that while some will see no change to their current education systems, others will experience cataclysmic change.

Currently, federal funding for education provides 4%-12% of state budgets, depending on the state. When you look at each state, you will see that the biggest percentage of federal funds for education are allocated to states like Arizona (currently ranked 49th in education). States with the highest education rankings, like Massachusetts and Maryland, took less than 5% of their funding from the federal government in 2023. Block Grants however, would be one set amount which all states would receive. It would overcompensate in some areas, and woefully under fund in the very places that need it the most.

There are other concerns too, beyond primary and secondary education. The Department of Education also provides Pell Grants and loans for college students. If there was a place to cut funding, this would be a prime target. The loans themselves would not necessarily go away. They would become privatized. With that privatization would go any grants, or any of the programs that allowed student loan forgiveness.

The history of the Department itself, as well as the nearly 50 years of GOP candidates calling for the disbanding the DOE, leads me to reasonably believe that it will, in fact, survive another Trump presidency. Every election they puff out their chests. They attempt to sabotage. Yet, the DOE perseveres, and some in years, actually walks away with more funding than they did in the previous budget.

This does not mean that we shouldn’t be concerned.

There are so many aspects of the Department of Education that stand to be affected, or become potential targets.

This week, we’ll explore what a programs may be hit the hardest, and what we can do to protect vulnerable students across the nation.

UP NEXT: Block Grants