WASHINGTON – During his election campaign, President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly promised to “shut down” the U.S. Department of Education if he regained the White House.

“We want federal education funds to follow the student, rather than supporting a bloated and radical bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.,” he said. said in October. “We want to close the Federal Ministry of Education.”

But keeping that promise is easier said than done. Dismantling the agency — which provides billions of dollars each year to low-income public schools and billions more to help millions of Americans pay for college — would likely require support from congressional Democrats (who are vehemently oppose this idea).

And although many congressional Republicans have echoed his vow, Trump doesn’t have 100 percent buy-in on the Republican side of the aisle. Some in the Republican Party have argued that it would be better to leave the Department of Education intact because it could play a central role in implementing Trump’s policy agenda.

While it’s unclear how much of Trump’s rhetoric might become reality, here are four key things to know about this small but powerful agency:

It ensures that K-12 schools comply with important federal laws

The logic behind Trump’s pledge to dismantle the Department of Education is that, as he has said, America’s education policy needs to be devolved. »return to states.”

However, education in primary and secondary schools is already largely managed at national and local level. Public schools are primarily controlled by school boards and obtain most of their funding through allocations from state legislatures and local sources, usually in the form of property taxes.

Yet the federal government provides about a tenth funding for public schools – which represents a small but significant part of their budget. In order to continue receiving this money, schools must follow federal laws.

This is one of the areas where the Department of Education comes in. The agency, which became a cabinet-level ministry in 1979 and has several thousand employees, is located in the nation’s capital (but has regional offices throughout the country). It writes regulations that help clarify and implement laws written by Congress.

To continue to receive federal funding, schools must comply with these laws, which, among other things, protect students and teachers from discrimination and ensure that students with disabilities receive an appropriate education.

It oversees colleges and administers federal student aid.

The Department of Education also oversees the nation’s colleges and universities, almost all of which receive federal funding.

Any student who has completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, must interact with the Department of Education, which administers the form. The Federal Pell Grant, which is free money the government gives low-income students to pay for college, is also overseen by the department, as is the nearly $2 trillion federal student loan portfolio of the country.

In short, the agency plays an important role in ensuring that students in the United States can afford to earn a college degree. And much of the money in its coffers depends on whether schools can prove they can give students value for money.

Dismantling the agency would likely require support from Senate Democrats

Abolishing the department, as Trump and other newly elected Republicans in Congress have proposed, would require an act of Congress.

Although the Republican Party will likely have a congressional majority in both chambers, passing legislation to close the agency would mean getting some Democrats on board. A 60-vote threshold required to pass legislation in the Senate would pose a major obstacle to Trump keeping his promise, experts say.

The controversial conservative Project 2025 outlines how Department of Education offices could be divided and transferred to other federal agencies. But it’s unclear whether Trump agrees with the details of that proposal, and he has completely disavowed the 2025 plan. He has not presented his own more detailed plan for how he would close the department.

Michael Itzkowitz, who worked at the Department of Education during the Obama administration, said he did not foresee the agency disappearing during Trump’s second term in the White House.

“It’s more likely that they’re looking to cut some programs that they don’t agree with,” he said.

Many civil servants generally keep their jobs regardless of who is president

Whether or not the agency survives another four years, a sense of fear has already set in among many staffers about what Trump’s next term will bring. That anxiety is part of a broader unease among federal government service workers whose jobs could become more precarious if Trump implements policies he says would dismantle the so-called “deep state.”

Jared Bass, senior vice president at the liberal think tank Center for American Progress, worries about an “exodus” of civil servants who generally stay in their jobs regardless of who is president.

“They’re not trying to score political points for anyone,” he said. “Eliminating the Department of Education outright would require a machete, when we should be using a scalpel, to address some of the challenges facing our country. »

Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.

This article was originally published on USA TODAY: 4 things to know about Trump’s promise to close the Department of Education