The US Secretary of Education: Shaping National Education Policy
The United States Secretary of Education is the head of the US Department of Education (DOE). The education secretary is appointed by the president of the United States and serves as a presidential cabinet member. The position was established with the founding of the modern DOE in 1980. Secretaries are tasked with guiding the DOE and coordinating programs and policies that provide effective and equal education to all American students.
Historical Context and Evolution of the Role
In the early days of the United States, education was important but not standardized. Children received widely differing levels of education or, in many cases, no formal education at all. For most of American history, designing and providing education has been the responsibility of individual states and local communities. The United States Constitution does not mention any role for the federal government in education, and, according to the Tenth Amendment, anything not mentioned in the Constitution is left to the states to decide.
As the country grew into a major international power, however, the need for a strong national educational system became increasingly evident. In 1867, federal officials created a prototype office of education to help guide states in creating formal schooling programs. This organization never gained much power, though. A federal department of education was originally created in 1867 to help the states set up school systems by gathering information about teaching, schools, and teachers. In 1980, Congress established a new and more powerful cabinet-level agency known as the US Department of Education (DOE). The Department of Education was established by Congress in 1980. It united several existing offices across different agencies into a Cabinet level agency located in the executive branch. The department's mission of fostering educational excellence and equal access arose out of the cultural and political events in the post-World War II era. The National Defense Education Act (NDEA), the first comprehensive federal education law, was passed by Congress in 1958 in response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik during the Cold War.
The Department of Education (ED) was established May 4, 1980, in the Department of Education Organization Act (Public Law 96-88 of October 1979).
Appointment and Position
The US secretary of education is the leader of the DOE. The secretary is appointed by the president of the United States, with approval of the Senate, and reports directly to the president. The secretary of education is also a member of the presidential cabinet and advises the executive on a wide range of educational matters, including new programs, proposals, and policies. Within the line of federal succession of officers, the education secretary is ranked fifteenth.
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Responsibilities and Objectives
The secretary of education’s main task is to guide the DOE and act as its top representative. In this way, the secretary is deeply involved with the DOE’s many goals and activities. The DOE is tasked with helping American students improve and succeed through federal assistance, equal access to education, and well-managed programs to promote educational excellence. The DOE establishes policies, distributes funding, performs research and collects data, and discusses the current state of educational issues with the public and other government agencies.
In the twenty-first century, the DOE’s work affects the lives of more than 17 million secondary students in approximately 13,000 school districts. The DOE also works with more than 21 million students in postsecondary institutions. To handle these tasks, the secretary of education receives assistance and advice from the Office of the Secretary within the Department of Education. This group includes a chief of staff, deputy chiefs of staff, and a senior advisor. These experts coordinate with a wide range of other government offices specializing in fields such as educational technology, student aid, and vocational and special education.
The United States secretary of education is the head of the United States Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on policies, programs, and activities related to all education in the United States.
Shaping Education Policy
Education secretaries often act as thought leaders, shaping public dialogue and policies rather than directly implementing sweeping change.
William Bennett, who served as secretary of education during the Reagan administration, became a prominent conservative voice. He advocated for "virtue-based education" rooted in traditional values. Margaret Spellings commanded more national attention as secretary of education than most people who have held the position during her tenure in the George W. Bush administration. Spellings championed standards-based education with an emphasis on accountability. Arne Duncan, who served as education secretary during the Obama administration, also made a lot of headlines. His Race to the Top program encouraged school districts and states to compete for federal funding as a way to drive improvement through competition. Betsy DeVos, who served during Trump's first administration, was one of the most polarizing education secretaries in the department's brief history.
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The Evolving Role of the Federal Government in Education
The debate over the federal government's role in education predates the establishment of the Department of Education. While the responsibility for education is primarily the responsibility of states and local districts, the role of the federal government in setting education policy has grown considerably over the last several decades. Although the federal government provides only about 12 percent of the overall education spending of $1.15 trillion, the role of the federal government in setting education policy has grown considerably over the last several decades.
Challenges and Controversies
The Department of Education has been a source of political controversy since its creation in 1980 during Jimmy Carter's presidency.
The amount of student debt Americans owe has hovered around $1.75 trillion in recent years. Supreme Court struck down Biden's plan to forgive up to $20,000 per borrower. Ultimately, the courts will determine the legality of these relief efforts - underscoring the limits of the secretary of education's power.
The Trump administration rescinded guidance documents in July 2018 that had been issued by the DOE under the Obama administration. The guidance documents encouraged institutions of higher education to consider race as a factor in the admissions process as a means to achieving student diversity. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the policy change on July 3, 2018. In his announcement, Sessions stated that the DOE is required to adopt new regulations through the rulemaking process, which provides members of the public with the opportunity to offer feedback on proposed rules during public comment periods. The American people deserve to have their voices heard and a government that is accountable to them. When issuing regulations, federal agencies must abide by constitutional principles and follow the rules set forth by Congress and the President. Sessions previously instructed the DOJ to refrain from issuing regulations through guidance documents in a November 2017 agency memo.
READ MORE: Trump promised to end 'wokeness' in education. The education secretary's job would go away if Trump were to succeed with his campaign promise to "close up" the department.
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Historical Figures
The first secretary of education was Shirley Hufstedler, who was appointed by President Jimmy Carter.
Trump Administration's Efforts to Restructure the Department
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Education Department is handing over more of its programs and grants to other federal agencies, announcing a pair of new agreements Monday that move the Trump administration closer to its goal of shutting down the department.
Under one interagency agreement, the Health and Human Services Department will take over grant programs that send millions of dollars to schools for safety and community engagement efforts. Another calls for the State Department to take over a portal that tracks foreign gifts to universities.
“As we continue to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states, our new partnerships with the State Department and HHS represent a practical step toward greater efficiency, stronger coordination, and meaningful improvement,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.
Republican President Donald Trump and McMahon have acknowledged only Congress has authority to close the Education Department fully, but both have suggested its core functions could be parceled out to different federal agencies.
The agreement with HHS moves a small subset of grants to the health agency without touching the Education Department’s special education work. McMahon has long suggested that special education programs should be moved to HHS too, and as recently as December she told advocates that she still intends to move those programs out of the department.
Yet the issue has proved to be politically volatile for McMahon, who has been grilled over her plans for special education even by some in her party. The latest agreements make no mention of the department’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which manages billions of dollars in grants and oversees state compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Last year, the department signed seven similar agreements, transferring a sweeping slate of work to the Department of Labor and the Interior Department, in addition to the State Department and HHS. Those agreements covered billions in federal funding streams that went to programs like Title I, which supports low-income students.
The union representing department workers said the latest agreements would shift work to agencies with no educational expertise.
“This isn’t efficiency - Secretary McMahon is creating confusion for schools and colleges, eroding public trust, and harming students and families," AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman said in a statement.
“This is an insult to the tens of millions of students who rely on the Department to safeguard access to quality education and to the taxpayers who depend on federal oversight to prevent waste.”
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state said the agreements would hurt students and families.
“These illegal agreements aren’t just creating pointless new bureaucracy that burdens our already-overworked teachers and schools; they are actively jeopardizing resources and support that students and families count on and are entitled to under the law,” Murray said.
Under the new agreements, the State Department will take an increased role in data collection, reporting and enforcement of Section 117, which requires colleges and universities to disclose gifts of $250,000 or more each year.
The agreement with HHS will send six programs to the Administration for Children and Families, which will take over grant competitions and technical assistance for these grants.
But the future of those programs is already uncertain. In its 2026 budget request, the Trump administration said it wanted to zero out the budget of five of the six programs it is transferring to HHS. And in December, some recipients of the Promise Neighborhoods and Full-Service Community Schools grants, which pay for academic and afterschool enrichment opportunities for students, were notified that their funding would not continue in 2026, bringing much of their work to a sudden halt.
On March 11, 2025, the Trump Administration laid off 1,300 workers, leaving the department with half its former workforce and most significantly impacting Federal Student Aid, the Office for Civil Rights, and the Institute of Education Sciences. District Judge Myong Joun wrote that the layoffs "will likely cripple the Department," and noted that "the Department cannot be shut down without Congress’s approval." The Trump administration filed an appeal days later.
McMahon said the partnerships supported President Donald Trump's March 20, 2025, executive order that called for closing the Education Department and returning its functions to the states. McMahon said, "The Trump Administration is taking bold action to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states.
In a lawsuit, several education groups claimed that the Trump executive order hindered the department's ability to fulfill its mandated responsibilities, which include providing financial aid, supporting special education, and protecting civil rights. The executive order, titled "Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities," was written to shift education authority to the states and close the DOE beyond its "core necessities" of distributing Title I funding for low-income schools, money for special education, and Pell grants.
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