<a class="post__byline-name-unhyphenated" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/author/dustin-hornbeck-the-conversation" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Person" itemprop="author"> <span itemprop="name">Dustin Hornbeck, The Conversation</span> </a> <a class="post__byline-name-hyphenated" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/author/dustin-hornbeck-the-conversation"> Dustin Hornbeck, The Conversation </a> <br>Leave your feedback<br>The Department of Education has been a source of political controversy since its creation in 1980 <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/ed-overview/an-overview-of-the-us-department-of-education--pg-1">during Jimmy Carter’s presidency</a>. President Ronald Reagan, who was first elected that year, <a href="https://www.annenbergclassroom.org/timeline_event/reagan-calls-abolishing-education-dept/">called for it to be disbanded</a>.<br>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vK7qfnkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">scholar of educational policy</a> and the balance of federal and state roles in American education, I believe that understanding the department and its leader’s responsibilities is especially important today. Every child in the United States is required to attend school in some capacity, and what happens at the federal level can have real-world impacts on students ranging from preschool to grad school.<br><a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/what-linda-mcmahon-is-likely-to-prioritize-as-education-secretary-under-trump"><strong>WATCH:</strong> What Linda McMahon is likely to prioritize as education secretary under Trump</a><br>In addition, President-elect Donald Trump has pledged <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-would-it-mean-if-president-elect-trump-dismantled-the-us-department-of-education-244135">to dismantle the department</a>.<br>The secretary of education belongs to the president’s cabinet, leads the Department of Education and advises the president about educational policy issues.<br>They oversee a department with a <a href="https://www.usaspending.gov/agency/department-of-education?fy=2024">US$228 billion budget</a> that enforces many civil rights laws and ensures compliance with federal laws such as the <a href="https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/laws-preschool-grade-12-education/every-student-succeeds-act-essa">Every Student Succeeds Act</a>.<br>Some of the Education Department’s key responsibilities include administering <a href="https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/laws-preschool-grade-12-education/title-I">Title I</a> funding to help schools serving low-income students obtain an equitable education regardless of their socioeconomic status; managing the <a href="https://sites.ed.gov/idea/">Individuals with Disabilities Education Act</a> – known as IDEA – to ensure services for students with disabilities; and overseeing the <a href="https://studentaid.gov/help/fafsa">Free Application for Federal Student Aid</a> – or FAFSA – which helps millions of students afford college.<br>Through the FAFSA, millions of students obtain <a href="https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/grants/pell">Pell Grants</a>, which don’t have to be repaid, <a href="https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/loans?note=6d95e320-faac-4d39-bc61-b92bfb72bda4">student loans</a>, which do, as well as part-time <a href="https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/work-study">work-study jobs</a>.<br>In the U.S., education is <a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-role-in-education-has-a-long-history-74807">mainly a state responsibility</a>. As a result, the function of schooling largely falls to individual states.<br>Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else.<br>Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm.<br>Each state has its own education system, with most designating a significant amount of control to local jurisdictions. <a href="https://theconversation.com/school-boards-long-locally-focused-and-nonpartisan-get-dragged-into-the-national-political-culture-wars-229143">Locally elected school boards</a> bear the responsibility for setting many policies and approving budgets for their district.<br>Federal funding makes up <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2015/06/federal-and-state-funding-of-higher-education">about 14 percent of K-12 education funding</a>. <a href="https://www.pgpf.org/article/how-is-k-12-education-funded/">States and localities foot the rest</a> of the bill, mostly through a combination of taxes on income and property. In some cases, there are other taxes, such as those on tobacco and alcohol sales, or revenue is raised through state lottery systems.<br>These funding formulas can be <a href="https://www.wtkr.com/news/virginia-lottery-touts-millions-towards-education-experts-say-its-complicated">complicated and inequitable</a>.<br>Ultimately, the role of the secretary of education is less about wielding substantial power and more about using the position as a platform to influence the national conversation on education.<br>Education secretaries often act as thought leaders, shaping public dialogue and policies rather than directly implementing sweeping change. Some have garnered more attention than others:<br>DeVos also <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2020/10/29/21540634/devos-charter-schools-religion/">supported the establishment of religious</a> charter schools, which are funded with tax dollars but operated independently of local school systems.<br>The amount of student debt Americans owe <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SLOAShttps://fred.stlouisfed.org/">has hovered around $1.75 trillion</a> in recent years. Reducing that burden was among the top priorities of <a href="https://fsapartners.ed.gov/training/federal-student-aid-fsa-training-conference/program/presenters/dr-miguel-cardona">Miguel Cardona</a>, President Joe Biden’s education secretary.<br>In 2023, the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/22-506_nmip.pdf">U.S. Supreme Court struck down</a> Biden’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 per borrower. In response, the Biden administration announced <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/new-proposed-regulations-would-transform-income-driven-repayment-cutting">other student debt relief efforts</a> that included lower loan payments and additional forgiveness; most of them are on hold due to <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/08/supreme-court-temporarily-bars-latest-biden-student-debt-relief-plan/">pending court cases</a>.<br>Ultimately, the courts will determine the legality of these relief efforts – underscoring the limits of the secretary of education’s power. With the scale of this debt, I am certain that student loan debt is likely to remain a big focus for anyone serving as the secretary of education.<br>Debates regarding education policies sometimes double as battles over cultural issues, such as LGBTQ rights in schools and whether parents should have more control over what students are taught in classrooms.<br><a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-promised-to-end-wokeness-in-education-he-has-promised-to-use-federal-funds-as-leverage"><strong>READ MORE:</strong> Trump promised to end ‘wokeness’ in education. He has promised to use federal funds as leverage</a><br>Conservative groups such as <a href="https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/how-moms-for-libertys-legal-strategy-has-upended-title-ix-rules-for-schools/2024/09">Moms for Liberty</a> have pushed for laws that restrict discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity and have supported bans on transgender athletes in school sports.<br>LGBTQ rights organizations, including the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/walz-harris-lgbtq-human-rights-campaign-44cc5b75d61ae14025a4133a3123d915">Human Rights Campaign</a>, support policies that protect trans children from bullying at school.<br>The education secretary’s job would go away if Trump were to succeed with his campaign promise to “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tscgWCBbeao">close up</a>” the department. Doing that would require an act of Congress, but experts question whether such a measure would prevail <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/congressional-republicans-continue-introduce-bills-eliminating-department-education/story?id=116115168">when Republicans have narrow majorities in Congress</a>.<br>Even <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/11/13/trump-republicans-eliminate-education-department">if the department were abolished</a>, many federal education programs could be distributed to other agencies.<br>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-role-in-education-has-a-long-history-74807">debate over the federal government’s role in education</a> predates the establishment of the Department of Education. I have no doubt that it would continue should there not be a secretary of education anymore.<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dustin-hornbeck-326838">Dustin Hornbeck</a> is an assistant professor of educational leadership and policy studies at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-memphis-2147">University of Memphis.</a> This story is part of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/cabinet-profile-168416">series of profiles</a> of Cabinet and high-level administration positions.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/245139/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines -->This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-secretary-of-education-helps-set-national-priorities-in-a-system-primarily-funded-and-guided-by-local-governments-245139">original article</a>.</em><br> <br> <svg class="svg"><use xlink:href="#arrow-left"></use></svg><span>Left:</span> FILE PHOTO: The U.S. Department of Education building is pictured in Washington on Thursday, April 2, 2020. File photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images <br><span>By</span> Nadia Lathan, Jamie Stengle, Associated Press<br><span>By</span> Collin Binkley, Associated Press<br><span>By</span> News Desk<br><span>By</span> Yasmeen Sami Alamiri<br> <a class="post__byline-name-unhyphenated" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/author/dustin-hornbeck-the-conversation" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Person" itemprop="author"> <span itemprop="name">Dustin Hornbeck, The Conversation</span> </a> <a class="post__byline-name-hyphenated" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/author/dustin-hornbeck-the-conversation"> Dustin Hornbeck, The Conversation </a> <br> <span>Support Provided By:</span> <a href="https://help.pbs.org/support/solutions/articles/5000677869" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Learn more</a> <br>Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else.<br>Thank you. 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