Tracking Trump's executive orders: Dismantling the Department of Education

Executive Order 14242: Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities

Date Signed: March 20, 2025

Status: Implemented

Key Provisions:

• Executive Order 14242 calls for the Secretary of Education to take all necessary and legal steps to dismantle the Department of Education and return authority over education back to the states. 
• This Executive Order also seeks to revoke federal funding from initiatives or programs in schools through “the requirement that any program or activity receiving Federal assistance terminate illegal discrimination obscured under the label ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ or similar terms and programs promoting gender ideology.” 

Interfaith Alliance Counterpoints:

• Interfaith Alliance has long supported public education and is deeply concerned with how this action will affect students across the country.
• The Department of Education has acted as federal oversight, protecting children against discrimination and disparities by providing educational resources and funding to marginalized families and communities. Without this federal oversight, less well-resourced communities will face greater challenges in providing high quality, accessible education. 
• By specifically targeting programs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Trump Administration is removing tools and resources to protect already at-risk children, further undermining protections for children of diverse faiths and beliefs.  
• As argued by senior fellow Maggie Siddiqi in an op-ed for Newsweek, “Our public schools guarantee admission to students of all religions and backgrounds, and provide religious freedom protections to all students. Trump instead favors sending funds to private schools, which can and do discriminate in their hiring and admissions practices, on the basis of religion, disability, and other protected characteristics. Ninety percent of students in our country attend public schools. They depend on them to protect their civil rights and civil liberties, and all students depend on federal dollars for support, particularly students with disabilities or students from low-income families.” Dismantling the Department of Education also means the elimination of oversight and “critical services protecting religious freedom in schools.”