© 2025 WRVO Public Media
NPR News for Central New York
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

(dot) Gov: What Trump's Plans Mean For The Department of Education

The US Department of Education building.Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images
Tierney L. Cross
/
Getty Images
The US Department of Education building.Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images

You've probably heard President-elect Donald Trump say he plans to close the Department of Education.

It's the smallest of the cabinet-level federal agencies, with just over 4,000 employees. Its 2024 budget was $275 billion. That's 4 percent of all federal funding.

Trump's plans to completely shutter the department are unlikely to happen. He may, however, make big changes to it, shifting many of its responsibility to other agencies.

But what are those responsibilities exactly? And who carries them out? As part of our series on federal workers, dot Gove, we're diving into the Department of Education today to talk about its functions and what the future president's plans for it mean for the American people.

Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

Copyright 2025 NPR