Major Shake-Up: Education Department Transfers Offices Managing $28B in K–12 Grants

The Department of Education has begun transferring six offices and their functions to other federal agencies, moving responsibilities that oversee roughly $28 billion in K–12 grants and about $3.1 billion in college-completion programs out of the central department. Officials describe the moves as an incremental approach to slimming down a department created in 1979 by consolidating programs that once lived in multiple agencies.

What’s being moved

Within weeks of taking office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for the Department of Education to be abolished. Recognizing that full elimination would require congressional approval and a Senate vote that is unlikely, the administration appears to be pursuing a step-by-step transfer of offices instead.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has already moved career and technical education programs — including adult education and family literacy initiatives — to the Department of Labor. Under the latest interagency agreements, Labor will also assume the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, which oversees 27 K–12 grant programs, and the Office of Postsecondary Education, which manages 14 programs aimed at helping students enroll in and complete college. The federal Indian education program is slated to move to the Interior Department, and federal foreign-language education programs will transfer to the State Department.

Administration rationale and critics

Administration officials argue these transfers reduce duplication and place funds where they can be more directly managed, often by agencies with programmatic or regional expertise. Secretary DeVos has characterized much of the department as a pass-through for funds that states could manage more directly.

"Today, American reading and math scores are near historical lows," the presidential order states, citing recent assessments of student performance and arguing that the federal education bureaucracy is not working. The order also criticized certain departmental operations, noting a public affairs office with more than 80 staffers and an annual cost in the millions.

Critics say moving offices piecemeal creates fragmentation, risks disrupting services, and leaves unanswered questions about oversight and accountability. Others warn that important policy expertise and nationwide program coordination could be weakened if functions are scattered among multiple agencies without a clear transition plan.

Context and related developments

The administration pointed to the 43-day government shutdown — which occurred during an academic term — as evidence that many day-to-day education services continued without central intervention: classes continued, teachers were paid, and local services such as transportation and extracurricular activities were not broadly disrupted. Supporters argue this shows many federal functions can be handled locally; opponents stress that funding, compliance monitoring and civil-rights enforcement are important federal roles.

The item also included several related vignettes. Writer Freddie de Boer described a growing "school car pickup line" problem in New York: parents increasingly driving children to school instead of using buses or walking, even though per-mile data show children face higher risk in passenger cars than on school buses. In business news, Home Depot trimmed its full-year earnings outlook after warning some consumers are delaying large home-improvement purchases. Separately, a large development proposal in Solano County would annex nearly 23,000 acres owned by a private development group seeking to build a new city; the proposal aims to help a cash-strapped Suisun City while allowing development on land that county rules otherwise restrict. Finally, the president suggested that a broadcaster's license should be reconsidered after a reporter pressed him about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, underscoring ongoing tensions between the administration and parts of the press corps.

For now, the policy remains incremental. Whether these transfers will lead to a coordinated restructuring, continued fragmentation, or eventual legislative action remains uncertain and will depend on congressional response and implementation details yet to be finalized.