# U.S. Department of Education *Cabinet-level federal department responsible for federal education financial aid, school data, and enforcement of federal civil-rights law in schools* The U.S. Department of Education is a federal department of cabinet rank. President Jimmy Carter signed the Department of Education Organization Act on October 17, 1979. The Act divided the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare into two bodies: the Department of Education and the [[United States Department of Health and Human Services]]. The new department opened on May 4, 1980.[^1] In March 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directed at closing it as far as the law permits.[^1] The department lists four key functions for itself. One of them is barring discrimination and securing equal access to education.[^2] The Minnesota record shows how that function worked in one case. The department's [[Office for Civil Rights]] made a finding in Case No. 05-10-1146 under the preponderance standard. It found that Somali students at two [[St. Cloud]] high schools "were subjected to negative comments and physical intimidation, based on their race and national origin."[^3] The case closed with a Resolution Agreement executed October 31, 2011. The agreement was entered without admission of violation. Its terms were:[^4] - anti-harassment statements; - policy revision; - training; - student forums; - annual climate surveys; - annual compliance reporting. ## Who The United States secretary of education heads the department.[^1] Its Office for Civil Rights is the component that issued the St. Cloud finding.[^3] President Andrew Johnson signed the 1867 legislation that created the first Department of Education. Henry Barnard had proposed it together with leaders of the National Teachers Association, and he became the first United States Commissioner of Education.[^5] In 1979, Carter pressed for a cabinet-level department. He also signed the act that created it.[^5][^1] Trump signed the January and March 2025 executive orders described below. In April 2025, Linda McMahon announced that the department would again garnish the wages of student-loan borrowers in default.[^6] According to the Wikipedia account, Republican efforts to close the agency go back to the 1980s.[^6] ## What The department's four stated functions are:[^2] - setting policy on federal education aid, and distributing and monitoring those funds; - gathering data on the nation's schools and publishing research; - drawing national attention to key education issues and recommending reforms; - prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access. The department also sits on the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Through it, the department works on schooling for homeless and runaway youth.[^2] Its Civil Rights Data Collection publishes state and national estimates, including a 2017–18 state report for Minnesota.[^7] ## When **1867–1953.** The 1867 department was intended to gather statistics on the nation's schools and to advise them. It was modeled on the way the [[Department of Agriculture]] assisted farmers.[^5] A year later it was reduced to an office.[^1] It was then placed as a bureau in the [[United States Department of the Interior]].[^5] - In 1920, the Smith–Towner Bill tried and failed to create a cabinet department.[^5] - In 1939, the bureau moved to the Federal Security Agency and was renamed the Office of Education.[^5] - Under Dwight D. Eisenhower's *Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1953*, the Federal Security Agency was abolished. Most of its functions went to the newly created Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.[^5] **1979–1980.** The Organization Act was signed on October 17, 1979, and the department began work on May 4, 1980.[^1] **2025.** On January 20, 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14148. It ended several White House educational-equity initiatives housed in the department. These were the initiatives for:[^6] - Native Americans and Tribal Colleges and Universities; - Black Americans; - Hispanics; - Hispanic-Serving Institutions. On March 20, 2025, Trump signed the order aimed at closing the department.[^1] The Office of Educational Technology was abolished at that time.[^6] The court challenges then ran as follows:[^1] - On May 22, 2025, a federal district court in Boston blocked the action. - In early June 2025, an appeals court refused to lift that injunction. - On July 14, 2025, the Supreme Court reversed the lower courts, which let the layoffs go forward. ## How much The department's 2024 budget was about $268 billion, compared with $14 billion at its creation in 1979.[^1][^8] In 2025, that budget equaled roughly four percent of all federal spending.[^1] The department holds about $1.7 trillion in federal student-loan debt.[^8] ## How many The department employed more than 4,000 people in 2021, the smallest staff of any cabinet agency.[^1] The Department of Government Efficiency announced that it would cut that workforce by half.[^1] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue entry AI-Stearns-016 describes the St. Cloud matter. In the entry's words, it was a federal finding of hostile environment that closed with a training plan. The entry also records that:[^4][^9] - the district resolved the matter without admitting a violation; - the district paid no fines; - the district lost no funding. The entry pairs this finding with the January 2025 presidential action *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity*. It presents the pairing as an example of a civil-rights finding whose remedy imposed no cost on the party found.[^10] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - The Office for Civil Rights issued the finding in Case No. 05-10-1146.[^3] - The school district entered the Resolution Agreement.[^4][^9] ### What - The finding was made under the preponderance standard. It states that the students "were subjected to negative comments and physical intimidation, based on their race and national origin."[^3] - The agreement was entered without admission of violation.[^4] - The agreement requires anti-harassment statements, policy revision, training, student forums, annual climate surveys, and annual compliance reporting.[^4] ### When - The Resolution Agreement was executed October 31, 2011.[^4] ### Where - Two high schools in St. Cloud, Minnesota.[^3] ### How many - The finding covers students at two high schools.[^3] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States Department of Education*, lead section (revid 1374920852, retrieved 2026-10-27) — the 1979 Organization Act and the 1980 opening; the 1867 predecessor; staff and budget; the March 2025 executive order and the court rulings of May–July 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Education [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States Department of Education*, "Purpose and functions" (revid 1374920852, retrieved 2026-10-27) — the department's four self-identified functions and its membership on the Interagency Council on Homelessness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Education [^3]: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, *Case No. 05-10-1146* (finding; date not given in the pack) — agency finding, made under the preponderance standard, about harassment of Somali students at two St. Cloud high schools based on race and national origin. https://www.ed.gov/media/document/05101146-apdf-90222.pdf [^4]: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, *Resolution Agreement, Case No. 05-10-1146* (October 31, 2011) — agreement entered without admission of violation, with statement, policy, training, forum, survey, and reporting terms. https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/more/05101146-b.pdf [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States Department of Education*, "History" (revid 1374920852, retrieved 2026-10-27) — the 1867 creation, Barnard, the 1920 Smith–Towner Bill, the 1939 transfer, the 1953 reorganization, and Carter's 1979 proposal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Education [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States Department of Education*, "Second Trump administration" (revid 1374920852, retrieved 2026-10-27) — Executive Order 14148, the March 2025 order and the Office of Educational Technology, McMahon's April 2025 garnishment announcement, and Republican closure efforts since the 1980s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Education [^7]: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, *Civil Rights Data Collection, State and National Estimations, 2017–18* — Minnesota state report. https://ocrdata.ed.gov/StateNationalEstimations/Estimations_2017_18 [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States Department of Education*, "Budget" (revid 1374920852, retrieved 2026-10-27) — the 2024 budget and the student-loan portfolio. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Education [^9]: CBS News Minnesota, *School board ends Somali discrimination probe* (date not given in the pack) — news account of the St. Cloud resolution. https://cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/school-board-ends-somali-discrimination-probe [^10]: The White House, *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity* (January 2025 presidential action) — the document the project's at-issue entry AI-Stearns-016 uses as its anchor. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/