Polymarket says there is about an 8% chance that Donald Trump ends the U.S. Department of Education by the end of the year. The Trump administration is already breaking up some of the Education Department’s work and moving it to other agencies, and bets are already being placed on full shut down.
Education Department powers shifted to DOJ
The rose after the Department of Justice was powered to now handle civil rights enforcement in education cases, per a Trumo administration announcement Tuesday. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will take over special education programs and responsibilities, the announcement also said.
As part of the restructuring, the DOJ will also handle student privacy protection work and give training and advice to schools, it added.
Trump plan to shift education control
Trump has long said he wants to shut down the Education Department and shift education control back to the states. However, only the U.S. Congress has the power to fully close the Department of Education, not the president alone.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon, former WWE CEO, has been making agreements with other federal agencies to shift department duties out of the Education Department, as noted by AP. McMahon said in a written statement these changes are meant to match responsibilities with agencies that can handle them better and reduce federal control where it slows results.
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The administration has already created 10 earlier agreements to move Education Department programs to other agencies before this latest move.
Special education and civil rights offices affected
Two major offices affected are the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and the Office for Civil Rights, which are now being reshaped under this plan, as cited by AP. The Office of Special Education manages billions of dollars in grants and checks if states follow disability education laws. The Office for Civil Rights investigates complaints of discrimination in schools and universities across the U.S.
A Washington, D.C. based think tank called EdTrust warned that these changes could weaken accountability and create confusion in education services, as reported by AP. EdTrust also said that students from vulnerable groups such as disabled, Black, Latino, low-income, multilingual, and rural students are most likely to be affected.
Union warns of chaos in schools
Rachel Gittleman, who leads a union for department employees, said the move could create chaos for families and schools and reduce protections for students facing discrimination, as cited by AP. She also warned that some students and families could lose access to important services they depend on.
Trump has not fully ended the Department of Education, but his administration is slowly shifting its powers to other federal agencies, which is why debate over its future is increasing.
