Trump’s Education Gamble: Letting States ‘Figure It Out’ While Kids Pay the Price
Dismantling the Education Department won’t fix inequality—it will make it worse.
What happens when you dismantle a government agency designed to ensure equal access to education?
According to the Trump administration, nothing much—just a little reshuffling, some layoffs, and a whole lot of “state empowerment.”
But let’s call this what it really is: a strategic withdrawal from ensuring that the most vulnerable students actually get a shot at a decent education.
The Great Federal Walk-Away
Trump and his Education Secretary, Linda McMahon (yes, the former WWE executive), have been on a mission to reduce the Department of Education to a ghost town.
With the agency’s workforce slashed in half and responsibilities scattered across various federal departments, the administration is trying to sell this as a bold move toward efficiency. It’s an ideological gamble that risks throwing millions of students into an education system already rife with inequality.
The justification?
“The system is broken.”
Sure, test scores are lagging, and gaps between high-performing and struggling students are widening—but does that mean you blow up the agency tasked with fixing the problem? That’s like saying hospitals aren’t curing every disease, so let’s stop funding them and hope for the best.
States’ Rights or a Race to the Bottom?
The plan is simple: give education dollars directly to the states, cut federal oversight, and let local governments spend the money as they see fit. In theory, this sounds great—until you remember that education funding is one of the most politicized battlegrounds in America.
Block grants, which McMahon is pushing as an alternative, don’t offer the same protections as direct federal funding.
They allow states to reallocate education dollars to pet projects, underfunded priorities, or, let’s be real, tax cuts.
For states like Mississippi, South Dakota, and Alaska—where federal funding accounts for over 20% of school budgets—this could mean a swift decline in resources for low-income students, English learners, and students with disabilities.
This is how public education is defunded—quietly, bureaucratically, and with a healthy dose of plausible deniability.
The Civil Rights Vanishing Act
For decades, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has been the go-to for students facing discrimination, whether due to race, disability, or economic status. But now, as part of a broader crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, the Trump administration is effectively sidelining this work.
Some cases may move to the Department of Justice, but let’s be honest—do we really expect the DOJ to prioritize K-12 education discrimination cases when they’re already buried in lawsuits and political brawls?
Even before Trump’s second term, the Office for Civil Rights was slow-moving. Now, attorneys representing students with disabilities are saying it’s barely functioning.
One lawyer bluntly said, “It may not have been the response you wanted. But at least they tried to pretend they were doing something.”
That’s where we are now—nostalgic for the days when the government at least pretended to care.
Make It Make Sense
This move isn’t about efficiency or streamlining—it's about dismantling the idea that the federal government should ensure all students, regardless of their ZIP code, have access to a quality education. The Trump administration isn’t fixing education; they’re walking away from the responsibility altogether.
What happens next? States with deep pockets will be fine. Their students will get resources, updated curriculums, and smaller class sizes. Meanwhile, low-income districts—where many students already struggle—will have to fight over whatever scraps are left.
So, let’s call it what it is: a retreat from equity, dressed up as reform. Because when the federal government checks out of education, it’s not the states that suffer—it’s the students.
That’s the point.
Zahead, Chaos Analyst