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When Donald Trump told Elon Musk one of his first acts as president would be to 鈥渃lose the Department of Education, move education back to the states,鈥� he was invoking a GOP promise that goes back to President Ronald Reagan and the department鈥檚 founding.

Yet through multiple Republican administrations, including Trump鈥檚 first term, the U.S. Department of Education has persisted.

That hasn鈥檛 stopped Democrats from sounding the alarm that Trump鈥檚 views epitomize the GOP鈥檚 bad intentions for public schools. The fact that the Republican Party鈥檚 platform , as does the , has only .

鈥淲e are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our public schools,鈥� Vice President Kamala Harris said to thunderous applause in her speech at the Democratic National Convention, where she placed the department alongside prized institutions and programs like Social Security, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act.

The department has become a 鈥渒ind of trophy鈥� in a larger debate about the meaning of public education, said Rick Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

In fact, he said, 鈥淭he Department of Education actually has very little to do with that debate. Abolishing it doesn鈥檛 advance school choice and keeping it doesn鈥檛 do much for traditional district schools. But it鈥檚 become a symbol of which side you鈥檙e on in that debate.鈥�

So, what exactly does the U.S. Department of Education do? Why do so many conservatives want to see it go away? Why has it survived? And what would it take for that to actually happen?

The U.S. Department of Education: a brief history

The federal government spent money on education and developed education policies . But the U.S. Department of Education didn鈥檛 become a stand-alone agency until 1980, when it split off from the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

President Jimmy Carter advocated for the creation of the department to fulfill a campaign promise to the National Education Association. Congress passed the Department of Education Organization Act in 1979. Some Democrats and the American Federation of Teachers opposed the idea, due to fears about and concerns that it would cater to the NEA鈥檚 interests.

Reagan, Carter鈥檚 successor, campaigned on abolishing the brand-new department. But Reagan鈥檚 first education secretary, Terrel Bell, commissioned the landmark report 鈥淎 Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform,鈥� warning that America was losing its competitive edge. It advocated for a strong federal role to ensure students received a high-quality education.

鈥淚f the federal government is coming out with a report that shows all the things that need to be fixed and at the same time, we鈥檙e backing out of it, those are not compatible positions,鈥� said Michael Feuer, dean of George Washington University鈥檚 Graduate School of Education and Human Development.

The U.S. Department of Education does a lot of things, and . Its biggest K-12 programs by dollar amount . Some of its most high-profile and controversial work involves enforcing civil rights protections. The department also plays a major role in distributing financial aid for higher education.

The department is . Before the infusion of pandemic relief dollars, the federal government only covered about 8% of K-12 educational costs. In recent years, it鈥檚 been closer to 11%. But isn鈥檛 necessarily easy.

Why do conservatives want to end the Department of Education?

Some of the dislike is purely ideological.

For conservatives, less government is better. Education is not mentioned directly in the U.S. Constitution. And a new department overseeing functions that remain mostly the purview of local government is low-hanging fruit.

Under Democratic administrations, the department has also sided with more progressive approaches to education and to civil rights enforcement.

The Obama administration, for example, told schools that if they suspended or expelled Black students at much higher rates than other groups, that could be a sign they were . Critics said the rules pushed schools to adopt laxer disciplinary policies that made schools less safe. . (The Biden administration has not reinstated them.)

More recently, the Biden administration issued Title IX rules that provide greater and more explicit protections for LGBTQ students 鈥� .

Jonathan Butcher, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said states have been a source of innovation, like charter schools and educational savings accounts. The federal department not only distracts states from efforts to improve education but creates unnecessary bureaucracy.

All the while, achievement gaps based on race and poverty haven鈥檛 gone away, Butcher noted, though .

鈥淲e have ample evidence that it is not serving its purpose,鈥� Butcher said of the department. Abolishing it, he added, is 鈥渃onsistent with both the interest in smaller government and the interest in doing what鈥檚 right for kids.鈥�

What does Trump say about abolishing the Department of Education?

In his , the social media platform previously known as Twitter, Trump said the U.S. had a 鈥渉orrible鈥� education ranking at the bottom of developed countries while spending the most.

It鈥檚 not totally clear what sources Trump was using. On , the U.S. ranked sixth in reading, 10th in science, and 26th in math among 81 countries. show , especially . The U.S. does spend , including many that score better on key measures.

Trump said some states won鈥檛 do well, but many would do a better job on their own while spending less money.

鈥淥f the 50, I would bet that 35 would do great, and 15 of them or 20 of them would be as good as Norway,鈥� Trump told Musk. 鈥淵ou know Norway is considered great.鈥�

He said the federal government could provide 鈥渁 little monitor. You want to make sure they are teaching English, as an example. Give us a little English, right?鈥�

Trump鈥檚 campaign did not respond to a request to elaborate on the candidate鈥檚 plans.

How would abolishing the Department of Education work?

Abolishing a federal department would require an act of Congress, just as creating one does. It likely would also , which the idea doesn鈥檛 have.

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, has to abolish the department 鈥� but the bill has failed to gain traction.

Despite that, Massie said his proposals were serious. 鈥淒amn right I want to terminate the Department of Education,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淧ublic education in America has gone downhill ever since this bureaucracy was created.鈥�

The Heritage Foundation鈥檚 Project 2025, widely seen as a blueprint for a future Trump administration 鈥� 鈥� lays out a much more detailed plan that considers necessary steps from Congress and the executive branch.

For example, the plan says civil rights enforcement should move to the Department of Justice, educational data collection to the U.S. Census Bureau, and support for Native American students to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Butcher acknowledged that BIA schools don鈥檛 have a good track record. But he argued that the agency was better positioned to work on improving educational outcomes.

Meanwhile, Project 2025 says Title I funding for high-poverty schools should be turned into vouchers and then phased out over time, while money from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act should be given directly to parents.

On a podcast earlier this year, Lindsey Burke, the Heritage Foundation鈥檚 director of the Center for Education Policy and author of Project 2025鈥檚 education chapter, of simply abolishing the department.

But she said the executive branch could take certain actions on its own, such as ending student loan forgiveness programs and not enforcing the new Title IX rules.

Ending the Education Department now 鈥榩art of the conversation鈥�

Hess, of the American Enterprise Institute, said he doesn鈥檛 oppose eliminating the department, but the idea has become a kind of 鈥渂oogie man or quick fix鈥� that鈥檚 become a on the federal role in education.

鈥淪o much of the culture war that reached a boil during the pandemic focused on schools and colleges, which made the department more contested terrain and made education more contested terrain,鈥� he said.

He鈥檚 skeptical that a future Trump administration would get any closer to eliminating the department than the first one did. And a could make it even harder to make dramatic changes via executive order, Hess said.

Feuer, of George Washington University, thinks the department has made positive contributions, despite some flaws, and wants to see it stick around. An unfriendly administration could dramatically cut funding or eliminate programs without eliminating the department. That鈥檚 the wrong debate to have when , he said.

鈥淚f we now take this really important moment and get everyone fighting about maintaining the department, instead of keeping our eyes on the kids and the teachers and doing some good work, that would be a really unfortunate distraction,鈥� he said.

Butcher acknowledged that it鈥檚 鈥渁 big, ambitious idea,鈥� but said it鈥檚 also a serious one. Past efforts, he said, lacked willpower and an advocate who prioritized it.

He was encouraged when every candidate in Republican presidential primary debates last year (except Trump, who did not participate) said they .

鈥淲e have made it a part of the conversation,鈥� Butcher said.

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