President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 20 intended to dismantle the Department of Education. Vanderbilt students, faculty and community members expressed concerns about the possible impacts this act could have on the university and higher education as a whole.
The executive order — titled “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities” — instructed the U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to redirect authority and power over the education system to the states. This includes reallocating federal funding for colleges and universities across the United States, K-12 education and marginalized communities in schools. This executive order comes after Trump ordered McMahon to investigate 45 universities, including Vanderbilt, over their ties to a PhD program meant to help marginalized students obtain their doctoral degree. There is no set timeline regarding the executive order, only a list of reasons describing the Trump administration’s reasoning for dismantling the DOE.
“Our Nation’s bright future relies on empowered families, engaged communities, and excellent educational opportunities for every child,” the order reads. “Unfortunately, the experiment of controlling American education through Federal programs and dollars — and the unaccountable bureaucracy those programs and dollars support — has plainly failed our children, our teachers, and our families.”
Explaining the executive order
In a message to The Hustler, Carrie Russell — political science senior lecturer and director of pre-law advising — explained how the executive order “shifts the responsibilities” of the DOE to other executive agencies.
“Allegedly, these tasks would be shifted to Treasury, Health and Human Services and DOJ,” Russell said.
Russell also outlined the legal landscape that she believes will determine whether Trump’s efforts to dismantle the DOE will succeed.
“Presidents alone would not have the power to completely dissolve an agency. Congress would have to pass the law dissolving it,” Russell said. “The president would also have to ask for reorganization authorization if he wanted to initiate major changes.”
In the executive order, Trump alleged that the DOE is costly to taxpayers and is failing students and parents, citing current student metrics across the country. Other goals of the executive order include cutting initiatives promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in schools.
Russell said she sees this executive order as more than just a target for federal oversight over education, but as a way for the Trump administration to continue executing its goals on government spending and other ideologies.
“[Trump’s] broader political mission is ostensibly to reign in government spending, end DEI initiatives and streamline federal operations for greater efficiency and transparency,” Russell said. “I think many Americans [can] look at the ledger — that the Department of Defense spends more money than all of the other federal agencies combined, for example — and question the expenditures.”
Federal funding
In a separate interview with The Hustler, Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said it was “not clear” how the executive order would affect the university.
“There are questions about how Pell Grants and the [federal] payments that financial assistance comes from would be administered,” Diermeier said. “It’s [unclear] what would happen to something like the Office of Civil Rights, which looks at Title VI and Title IX. We’ll participate in this conversation, but it’s not obvious at this point.”
The university declined to comment on a separate request for comment.
Russell said she believes dismantling the DOE will make it more difficult for marginalized groups and those who rely heavily on federal funding to attain higher education and resources.
“Potentially, it will make it more difficult for Vanderbilt students to gain access to higher education via Pell Grants and the Federal Student Loan Program. It would, presumably, have a profound impact on Peabody [College] and the training of teachers and leaders in education policy,” Russell said. “Most importantly, I think, it would signal that American priorities are not our children or the good things government agencies can do, but instead that our priorities are purely financial — that return on investment to shareholders is more important than the education of the next generation.”
In an interview with The Hustler, Emily Masters, Stratford STEM Magnet High School Parent Teacher Student Organization Vice President and former Metro-Nashville Board of Public Education Elected Representative, discussed how she believes this executive order will affect special education for students, teachers and minorities, among other issues.
“Efforts to dismantle the [DOE] are deeply concerning, particularly for communities like Nashville that rely on federal resources and protections to help ensure all students have access to a high-quality education,” Masters said. “Without a federal [DOE], we risk widening opportunity gaps, weakening civil rights enforcement and leaving the most vulnerable students without critical support.”
Masters said that with current political polarization, she believes community members should get together and speak out on issues directly affecting their families.
“In [MNPS], this could have devastating consequences,” Masters said. “It [is] essential that educators, families and local leaders speak out and push policymakers to protect public education, because strong public education is essential to a strong democracy, and this move threatens both.”
Russell similarly stated that without the DOE, at-risk students may be less likely to succeed in school.
“The concern is that dissolution [of the DOE] will negatively affect minority children and will make it more difficult for schools to provide quality education for students with special needs,” Russell said. “It will widen the [health and income gaps] between children whose parents can afford to send their children to privately-funded schools, and those who do not.”
Community reactions
River Jasper, a Peabody College master’s student, said they believe the executive order is more than just transferring power to the states, but is based on broader administrative goals.
“I think the dismantling of the DOE is largely a political stunt because it [is] designed to create chaos and confusion,” Jasper said. “[Dismantling the DOE] clouds real issues in education, such as lack of funding [and] support, respect for professionals [and] testing reforms, among others,” Jasper said.
In a message to The Hustler, Tucker Biddlecombe, Blair School of Music Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and Professor of Choral Studies, expressed his perspective on the recent policy change.
“Critical initiatives such as Title IX, LGBTQ protections and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act have all been inspired and funded by the DOE. While some of those measures will remain in force, the programs are only as strong as the people managing them,” Biddlecombe said. “I have a significant concern about the elevation of federal officials who have little to no experience in education initiating sweeping changes.”
Biddlebombe discussed how the dismantling of the DOE may impact education, specifically music education and the arts, especially in at-risk communities already facing political backlash in schools.
“As a career music educator, I’m dismayed to witness the weakening of the DOE. I think the effects of these actions will, unfortunately, be felt most by vulnerable communities,” Biddlecombe said. “States that have established music education programs will continue to thrive because their state governments put a premium on arts education — whereas states who put less emphasis on music education will experience fissures. ”
Gini Pupo-Walker, the Raikes Foundation Director of National Education Strategy and former MNPS Elected Representative, discussed the broader national implications of this executive order. The Raikes Foundation is an organization aimed at fighting for democracy and for all schoolchildren.
“The power that the government had to influence education is really disappearing, and what will remain are very basic pieces that do the bare minimum to keep the department open,” Pupo-Walker said. “It [is] really creating a lot of uncertainty and anxiety for people all the way down [to] the classroom level.”
Both the Vanderbilt College Republicans and the Vanderbilt College Democrats did not immediately respond to The Hustler’s request for comment.
The future of education
Jasper expressed concern about entering their career in education following this executive order.
“As an educator entering the field, it [is] frustrating and chaotic,” Jasper said. “I think I [will] have less support through the federal government than before, and more responsibilities will lay on the shoulders of teachers to make up for it.”
Jasper further explained their concern for states across the country, stating that different governments will choose to handle education differently, which may impact more students than others.
“The DOE advises, supports and funds state departments of education to support students,” Jasper said. “I think in specific states, students will face larger negative impacts than others, depending on how each state is willing to support their school districts.”
Pupo-Walker stated that recent data has revealed that most people in the U.S. across political parties do not support the dissolution of the DOE
“There [is] a high level of support for [public schools], so people are very concerned about what will happen to their teachers, their communities [and] their schools,” Pupo-Walker said. ”It’s [going] to be something that is deeply unpopular, especially in rural counties where sometimes the schools are the biggest employer in a whole county.”
Biddlecombe encouraged the next generation of teachers to continue to pursue their studies in education.
“I’ve recently been asked point-blank by prospective students — ‘does this mean I should think about avoiding education as a vocation?’ I believe it’s exactly the opposite,” Biddelecombe said. ”It will be dynamic young people who dedicate their lives to teaching kids that will stem this tide.”
