The U.S. Department of Education is more than a federal agency – it’s a critical support pillar holding up the nation’s education system. Proposals to eliminate this department threaten to collapse the support structure that millions of students and educators rely on every day. Imagine a school as a grand building: the Department of Education is a load-bearing column. Knock out that column, and the entire structure begins to crack and crumble, imperiling everyone inside.
In concrete terms, a Department of Education cuts scenario could strip away funding for disadvantaged students, force mass layoffs of educators, weaken civil rights enforcement, and disrupt college financial aid. This post examines the data behind these threats – and why advocacy partners must act to keep this pillar standing.
Dismantling a Pillar of Funding: Title I and IDEA at Risk
Two cornerstone programs administered by the Department of Education – Title I (1) and IDEA (2) – function like steel reinforcing bars in the education pillar, targeting support to the most vulnerable children. Title I provides federal aid to high-poverty schools, and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) (3) funds services for students with disabilities. Eliminating the Department or slashing its budget would directly jeopardize these programs’ funding levels, with dire job and service impacts.
Title I, currently about a $18 billion annual investment in low-income schools, is on the chopping block under some proposals. Analyses of the conservative Project 2025 blueprint show that phasing out Title I over the next decade would decimate over 180,000 teacher positions nationwide. That equates to roughly 5.6% of the U.S. teaching workforce disappearing – an educational jobs collapse that would leave classrooms more crowded and students less supported. Reading specialists, teaching assistants, and support staff funded by Title I could be among those laid off. The nearly 3 million children who benefit from Title I’s resources each year would feel the loss in larger achievement gaps and fewer learning opportunities.
IDEA funding faces a similar threat. The federal government currently provides about $15.4 billion under IDEA to support 8.4 million children and youth with disabilities. This covers roughly 10% of the cost of special education nationally, helping schools pay for specialized teachers, aides, therapists, and adaptive equipment. If the Department of Education is dismantled, there is no guarantee these funds would continue at current levels or be administered effectively. States could receive the money as a capped block grant or voucher program, a change that carries significant risks. One estimate finds that if IDEA funds were converted to private vouchers for families, each eligible student would get only about $1,500–$2,700 per year – a fraction of what is needed for adequate special education services. In other words, the sturdy federal support beam for students with disabilities could be whittled down to a flimsy stick. Districts might be forced to cut special education staff and programs if federal support falters, reversing decades of progress in inclusive education.
Cracks in the Foundation: Civil Rights Enforcement Workload
Another pillar of support the Department provides is oversight of civil rights in education. The Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) (4) is responsible for enforcing laws like Title VI (race discrimination), Title IX (sex discrimination), and disability rights in schools. Removing the Department would likely dismantle or drastically weaken this enforcement arm – effectively pulling out the rebar that keeps our education system equitable and safe for all students.
Right now, the need for civil rights enforcement in schools is at historic highs. In Fiscal Year 2022, the Education Department received 18,804 complaints (5) alleging civil rights violations in schools – the most ever on record. These included thousands of complaints about Title IX protections and disability discrimination. Yet even as workload surges, OCR’s staffing has eroded over decades, from nearly 1,100 full-time employees in 1981 to just 546 staff in 2022. This means each investigator is handling an overwhelming caseload, and delays are already a concern.
Eliminating the Department of Education would shatter this protective framework entirely. Without a federal agency to enforce civil rights, school districts could feel emboldened to ignore complaints of discrimination or roll back accommodations for vulnerable students. Recent downsizing moves have already previewed this risk: as part of the department’s dismantling efforts, 7 of 12 regional civil rights offices were closed in early 2025, prompting lawsuits from advocates over the “abdication of responsibility” in processing complaints. If this pillar falls, students facing racial harassment, gender-based violence, or disability discrimination may have nowhere to turn for help at the federal level. The schoolhouse doors could swing shut on hard-won rights, and inequities would deepen.
Stripping the Lifeline: FAFSA, Pell Grants, and College Aid Chaos
Higher education support is another crucial function propped up by the Department of Education. The Federal Student Aid (FSA) office – the team behind the FAFSA, Pell Grants, and student loans – acts as a lifeline for millions of aspiring college students each year. Eliminating the department threatens to snip this lifeline, causing chaos for students and the economy alike.
Consider the scale of what’s at stake: every year, over 17 million financial aid applications (6) are processed by the Department’s systems. Through FSA, the federal government disburses approximately $120 billion in student aid – including grants, loans, and work-study – to help students pay for college. Within that, the flagship Pell Grant program provides need-based grants to about 6 million low-income students annually. In the 2022–2023 award year, 6,033,000 students received Pell Grants (7) – the lowest number in 15 years, reflecting already unmet need. Those grants totaled roughly $30 billion (with an average award around $4,500) to help cover tuition for disadvantaged students.
If the Department of Education is shut down, these programs don’t simply vanish overnight – but they face severe disruption and uncertainty. Plans floated by the current administration suggest moving student loan programs to other agencies (even the Small Business Administration). However, mass layoffs at the Department have already caused FAFSA processing glitches and delays. Financial aid experts warn that downsizing and confusion could discourage students from even applying to college out of fear that aid won’t materialize. Imagine the pillar that supports higher education splintering: students from low-income families could find themselves in limbo – or give up on college dreams entirely – if Pell Grants and loans get tangled in bureaucratic reassignment or budget cuts. The long-term cost of fewer Americans earning degrees would reverberate across the workforce, reducing our country’s competitiveness.
Economic Shockwaves from Department of Education Cuts
Eroding the Department of Education’s supports would not only harm individual students – it would send shockwaves through the economy. Education is often likened to the foundation of a house: when that foundation cracks, the whole structure (in this case, our economy and society) destabilizes. Fewer resources for K-12 schools and higher dropout rates lead to a less educated workforce, which in turn drags down productivity and earnings.
Research shows a clear connection between educational attainment and economic prosperity. For instance, each high school dropout is estimated to cost the U.S. economy $272,000 over a lifetime (8) in lost earnings, lower tax revenues, and higher public assistance costs. This means that if under-resourced schools cause more students to fall through the cracks, the economic loss is enormous. Losing the federal Title I support that helps prevent dropouts would almost certainly increase the number of dropouts – multiplying those costs for every cohort of students not reaching a diploma. Likewise, if fewer students can afford college due to cuts in Pell Grants or loan access, we lose out on the higher incomes and innovation that college graduates contribute. One analysis found that inequities in postsecondary attainment already cost the U.S. nearly $1 trillion per year in lost economic output. Pulling away the federal support pillars would only exacerbate these inequities, depriving communities of the economic uplift that education provides.
In short, eliminating the Department of Education isn’t “budget savings” – it’s economic self-sabotage. The direct job cuts alone (such as those 180,000 teaching jobs tied to Title I) mean lost salaries and spending in local economies. But the bigger loss is the human capital: generations of Americans who, without adequate support in K-12 and college, won’t reach their full potential as skilled workers, professionals, and innovators.
The False Promise of Flexibility: Block Grants and Historical Warnings
Proponents of dismantling the Department often suggest sending education dollars to states as block grants, claiming this will increase local control and efficiency. History offers a clear warning here: block grants are a rickety substitute for a strong federal support pillar. Unlike funding formulas that respond to student needs or economic downturns, block grants provide a fixed chunk of money that often erodes over time and may be diverted to other uses by states.
A telling precedent is the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program – the welfare program created in 1996 when cash assistance was block-granted to states. Under the old system (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), federal funding rose with need; under TANF’s block grant, funding has been frozen for nearly 25 years. As a result, the real value of TANF funds has dropped by 33% since 1998 (9) due to inflation and population growth. States
also gained broad latitude in spending, and many redirected funds away from direct assistance, leading to far fewer eligible families actually receiving help. In education, a block grant approach could follow the same pattern: federal funds stagnate or shrink each year (especially if capped at some prior amount), and not all dollars may reach the low-income schools or students with disabilities they’re meant to serve.
Block grants also fail to cushion states during crises. If a recession hits or a local industry closes – increasing student poverty or special education needs – a fixed federal block grant would not adjust to cover the greater need. Schools in high-need areas could then face steep cuts, widening inequities between wealthy and poorer communities. The Department of Education was originally established in 1979 (10) “to strengthen the federal commitment to ensuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual.” That mission recognizes that education funding and civil rights should not be left entirely to the whims of geography or politics. Converting our education support pillars into block grants is like replacing a solid concrete column with unreinforced masonry – fragile and prone to cracks when pressure mounts.
Conclusion: Standing Together to Shore Up Our Pillars
The data and historical lessons are clear: the proposed Department of Education cuts would be like knocking out a main support column in a building, leaving our nation’s most vulnerable students in peril as the structure teeters. Title I and IDEA funds, which level the playing field for low-income and disabled students, could crumble. Civil rights protections in schools could be left without enforcement, causing cracks of injustice to spread. The pipeline to college via FAFSA and Pell Grants might fracture, cutting off opportunities and weakening our future workforce. And the shockwaves of diminished educational attainment would radiate through our economy for decades.
But we are not helpless bystanders in this scenario. Now is the time for action to reinforce, rather than remove, the pillars of student support. Advocacy partners can raise their voices to inform communities and lawmakers about what’s truly at stake beyond the political sound bites. We must demand that any discussions of education “reform” prioritize students and evidence-based policy over austerity and ideology.
Operation iLevelUP – an initiative aligned with the Believe in Me mission of empowering underserved youth – is rallying to protect these vital supports. Our mission is to level up opportunities for all students, so no child falls through the cracks. We invite you to join us in this effort. Here’s how you can help:
Stay Informed and Speak Up: Share the facts with your networks and contact your representatives. Let them know that dismantling the Department of Education means dismantling supports for children, and that’s unacceptable.
Support Vulnerable Students Directly: You can contribute to programs that fill gaps in funding. Consider donating to Operation iLevelUP (visit our website at ilevelup.app to learn more). Your donations help provide scholarships, educational resources, and advocacy for at-risk youth – bolstering the pillars from the ground up.
Partner and Volunteer: If you’re part of an organization or community group, partner with us to amplify the message or provide services to students affected by funding cuts. Even volunteering as a mentor or tutor can help shore up support for a child in need.
Together, we can prevent a catastrophic collapse of educational supports. We can hold up the pillars that ensure every child – regardless of income, ability, or background – has a strong foundation to build a bright future. Just as it takes many hands to construct a building, it will take a united effort to safeguard our public education system. Let’s stand together and reinforce our commitment to America’s students, so that this pillar of our democracy remains unshakable for generations to come.
Works Cited (Chicago Style)
U.S. Department of Education. “Estimated ESEA Title I LEA Allocations—FY 2024.” Accessed May 29, 2025. https://www.ed.gov/about/ed-overview/budget/estimated-esea-title-i-lea-allocations-fy-2024.
National Education Association. “FY24 Appropriations Summary Department of Education (ED).” March 2024. https://www.nea.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/fy24-appropriations-summary.pdf.
Congressional Research Service. “The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B: Key Statutory and Regulatory Provisions.” March 22, 2024. https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R41833/R41833.22.pdf.
U.S. Department of Education. “Office for Civil Rights (OCR).” Accessed May 29, 2025. https://www.ed.gov/about/ed-offices/ocr.
Axios. “Discrimination Complaints Surge in U.S. Schools.” January 1, 2023. https://www.axios.com/2023/01/01/education-department-discrimination-complaints-record.
U.S. Department of Education. “U.S. Department of Education Announces More Than 8 Million FAFSA® Forms Completed and Additional Form Improvements.” March 2025. https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-announces-more-8-million-fafsar-forms-complete-and-additional-form-improvements.
BestColleges. “Federal Pell Grants: Facts and Figures.” April 2025. https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/who-receives-pell-grants-statistics/.
National Center for Education Statistics. “Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States.” Accessed May 29, 2025. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/dropout/intro.asp.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “Block-Granting Low-Income Programs Leads to Large Funding Declines Over Time.” February 22, 2017. https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/block-granting-low-income-programs-leads-to-large-funding-declines-over.
Time. “A Brief History of Efforts to End the Department of Education.” February 2025. https://time.com/7225339/history-efforts-end-department-of-education/.cuts
