Yesterday, news feeds were filled with articles from organizations across the country discussing President Donald Trump’s impending executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (DoE). And while it was expected that he would sign it yesterday, he didn’t, and according to News Nation, “the White House has reversed course and will continue to review the department, a White House official said.”
With this particular executive order in limbo, concerns about it are still high. It has been 46 days since the 47th president took office, and since then, he has been a man of action. He has made sweeping changes across multiple government agencies, signed 28 executive orders, abolished Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, imposed tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China, declared English the official language of the United States and much more.
Making good on so many of his campaign promises so quickly, coupled with the March 3 vote to confirm Linda McMahon as the Secretary of Education and his promise to dismantle the DoE, has many asking what that could mean for students across the country, including here in Gretna.
According to Trump, he wants McMahon, who was formerly the lead executive of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), to put herself out of a job.
“So, we’re ranked number 40 out of 40 schools, right?” Trump said in the Oval Office on Feb. 4, as he signed executive orders. “We’re ranked number one in cost per pupil. So we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world. And we’re ranked at the bottom of the list. We’re ranked very badly. And what I want to do is let the states run schools. I believe strongly in school choice. But in addition to that, I want the states to run schools. And I want Linda to put herself out of a job.”
While Trump has made his goal clear, his reasoning isn’t quite accurate according to FactCheck.org, who analyzed his claim about the U.S.’s international ranking.
Regardless of Trump’s misconception, McMahon plans to do what the president has asked of her.
“My vision is aligned with the President’s: to send education back to the states and empower all parents to choose an excellent education for their children,” McMahon said in a speech after her confirmation. “The Department of Education’s role in this new era of accountability is to restore the rightful role of state oversight in education and to end the overreach from Washington.”
According to the DoE, their elementary and secondary programs currently serve over 50 million students attending approximately 98,000 public schools and 32,000 private schools. It also serves 12 million postsecondary students through grants, loans, and work-study programs.
To many critics, including National Education Association (NEA) President Becky Pringle, dismantling the agency means defunding programs that feed, educate, and protect the United States’ most vulnerable and underprivileged students. Leaving many communities around the country lost.
“Rather than working to strengthen public schools, expand learning opportunities for students, and support educators, McMahon’s only mission is to eliminate the Department of Education and take away taxpayer dollars from public schools, where 90% of students – and 95% of students with disabilities – learn, and give them to unaccountable and discriminatory private schools,” Pringle said in an neaToday article when McMahon was nominated for the position in November.
Whether or not McMahon and Trump will be successful in dismantling the DoE will depend on Congress, not just an executive order. The move would require congressional approval since Congress established the department and appropriates its funding.However, if the department is truly dismantled, state and local systems, including Gretna Public Schools, would have to function without federal oversight. This would require states to resume full responsibility for funding and policy.
“A lot of federal education programs such as Title I come through the US Department of Education,” Director of Assessment for Gretna Public Schools Andrew Boone said. “Other federal education laws are also enforced through the US Department of Education, and then there’s also different grants like federal grants that you can receive through the US Department of Education with funding.”
As the possibility of the DoE’s dismantling looms, districts around the Omaha Metro Area may have to make adjustments to less funding. However, with GPS not having as many students who meet the requirements for Title I status as others, it already receives less federal funding than its neighboring districts. According to the Nebraska Department of Education, GPS was allocated a total of $98,697 from the federal government for the 2024-25 school year, whereas Millard Public Schools was allocated $2,766,983, and Omaha Public Schools was allocated $30,332,213.
“Andy [Boone] and I both work in the curriculum, instruction, and assessment department, GPS Director of Curriculum and Instruction Molly Hornbeck said. “A lot of what our job entails is directed from the state level,” “So the nice part about our jobs is it’s truly a local control with our school board.”
Between the potential financial implications and reduced federal oversight that the department offers, educators and policymakers around the country, including Pringle, are nervous to see the truth behind Trump’s words.
“If it became a reality,” she said. “Trump’s power grab would steal resources for our most vulnerable students, explode class sizes, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle-class families, take away special education services for students with disabilities and gut student civil rights protections.”
The DoE is unbeaten when it comes to enforcing statutes prohibiting discrimination and ensuring every student has access to an education. Dismantling it means defunding programs and policies that educate and protect communities, so with its future in the balance and in the hands of politicians in Washington, D.C., uncertainty lingers for millions who rely on federal funding, resources and protections. If the DoE is dissolved, state and local governments will have to navigate the challenges of ensuring equitable education on their own. For now, schools like those in GPS and across the country must wait and prepare for potential changes as the fate of the U.S. education system remains undecided.
