What to know about the education department from financing to loan: NPR

Again and again, President Donald Trump and his colleagues have pointed to the US educational department as a poster child for government. Actually Republicans have been calls for the dissolution of the department Ever since its birth.

This effort reached a new level this week as president started exploring dramatic cuts to programs and staff in the department, including an executive action program that is not protected by the law and calls on Congress to close the department completely.

Which raises the question: What exactly does the education department do?

Created by Congress in 1979 hiring the department More than 4,000 people And has an annual budget of $ 79 billion. Many of its responsibilities were given to the legislators. (The US Constitution does not actually mention a federal role in education.)

Here is a look at what the education department does and does not do – and how much of it is protected by congressional actions:

Sending money to US public schools

Most public school financing comes from state and local authorities. The federal government generally gives only a small fraction of the school’s total funding – between 6 and 13%, according to A 2018 report from the US Government’s Responsibility Office.

Two of the most important federal funding flows to public schools are:

• Section I, which provides money to help districts serving society with lower income. In 2023, the Education Department received More than 18 billion dollars For Section I.
• Idea (persons with disabilities education law) who give money to help districts serve students with disabilities. In FY 2024 the department received more than 15 billion dollars For idea.

Both of these financing streams, like the institute itself, were created by separate congressional actions: Title I was signed in the law of 1965, and the idea was signed in law in 1975. They cannot be indispensable except by the congress. Big changes to both are unlikely as the money enjoys broad bipartisan support.

The department has no power over what is taught in schools

Over the years, Donald Trump has promised to free America’s schools with ideas like “Wokeness“And critical racial theory. And he have said That he would close the education department to return to “all educational work and educational work and needs back to the states.” In reality, it is already up to states to decide what is taught in the classrooms.

“It is not the federal government’s business to be involved in the curriculum or hiring staff,” said Kenneth Wong, professor of educational policy at Brown University.

“Each student follows ACT (ESSA), which was adopted under the end of the tail of the Obama years, really clearly laid out (at).”

Wong points out that Essa was partly shaped, of concern that its predecessor, no child left (NCLB), writhed to the government’s overreach. When NCLB was approved in the form of Essa, the law made it clear that it was up to states to decide what was taught in its classrooms.

Handling the University’s Financial Support and Federal Study Loan

The education department is not only responsible for managing the federal student loan portfolio, which corresponds to approx. 1.6 trillion dollars in student loan debt, it is also responsible for the mechanism that gives students access to the university’s financial support: the free application for federal student support, or FAFSA.

More than 17 million current and hopeful college students fill out FAFSA every year to qualify for student loans, grants and more. For many, this is the only way they can get help to pay for college.

Students who end up taking out loans become part of the department’s massive student loan portfolio, which is managed by the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA). FSA ”provides approximately $ 120.8 billion dollars in grants, work study and loan funds each year to help students and their families pay for college or career school,” according to Office site. It includes $ 33 billion in Pell grants for low-income students and middle-income.

The FSA also supervises student loan services, the external companies it hires to work directly with borrowers on their loan payments, among other things.

Data collection about colleges and college students

The department Maintains and collects data From each university, university and technical and commercial program participating in the federal student aid program. This allows taxpayers and families to analyze, compare and track things such as students’ recordings, academic results, graduation degrees, needs -based assistance with eligibility and more.

Tracking Students’ performance through the country’s report card

The education department also supervises the national assessment of educational progress (NaEP) or “The Nation’s Report Card.” It is considered the gold standard for student performance testing in topics such as reading, math and science.

The evaluation required by Congress actually precedes the Ministry of Education: The Federal Government began to administer the test in 1969, a decade before the department was established.

The nation’s report card has long served as a common yardstick for student performance and has been a particularly valuable tool through, and since the pandemic years. In addition to sheding light on how much the land students lost academically, It has also helped the country to trace chronic absence, poverty levels and educational experiences from students. The data generated by NaEP is then used by teachers, decision makers and researchers to work to improve K-12 education across the country.