Surrounded by children in private school uniforms, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday afternoon to close the U.S. Department of Education. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt acknowledged earlier in the day that shutting the agency completely down would require congressional action and that a smaller version of the agency would still be required to handle “critical functions.” 

In his opening remarks, Trump introduced new U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon as “hopefully the last secretary of education.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), and Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) were all present, along with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R)—both of whom have instituted education efforts Abbott has tried to replicate in Texas, including voucher programs. 

Trump’s remarks were a litany of the “failures” of American public schools, then a promise that the critical functions of the agency would be “redistributed” to other agencies.  

“We want to return our students to the states,” Trump said, suggesting the move would allow U.S. schools to mirror those in Norway and Finland. The effect returning “our students to the states” would have on the full-time employee count of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is unknown; however, the size of the TEA staff has increased by almost 50% since Education Commissioner Mike Morath was appointed by Abbott to lead the state agency. 

Trump’s executive order comes after the department announced March 11 it was laying off nearly half of its employees. McMahon, the co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the head of the Small Business Administration during the first Trump Administration, was sworn in March 3 and immediately issued a memo on her department’s “final mission”—shutting down. McMahon stated she had been tasked with the “elimination of bureaucratic bloat … quickly and responsibly.” 

How the agency’s work is redistributed, however, remains to be seen. Established in 1980 during the Carter Administration, the Department of Education is tasked with: 

• Distributing federal funds to states and schools, including Title I funding and special education funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). 
• Enforcing civil rights laws in schools receiving federal funds. This includes enforcement mechanisms to attempt to ensure states provide require “free appropriate public education” (FAPE) to all students with disabilities. 
• Collecting and analyzing education data through the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). 
• Supporting programs that serve students with disabilities, English language learners, and other special populations. 
• Providing best practices guidance on issues such as teacher quality and school safety.