US secretary of education helps set national priorities in a system primarily funded and guided by local governments

President Jimmy Carter gets a round of applause in 1979 after signing legislation establishing a Department of Education. AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi

The Department of Education has been a source of political controversy since its creation in 1980 during Jimmy Carter’s presidency. President Ronald Reagan, who was first elected that year, called for it to be disbanded.

As a scholar of educational policy and the balance of federal and state roles in American education, I believe that understanding the department and its leader’s responsibilities is especially important today. Every child in the United States is required to attend school in some capacity, and what happens at the federal level can have real-world impacts on students ranging from preschool to grad school.

In addition, President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to dismantle the department.

The secretary of education

The secretary of education belongs to the president’s cabinet, leads the Department of Education and advises the president about educational policy issues.

They oversee a department with a US$228 billion budget that enforces many civil rights laws and ensures compliance with federal laws such as the Every Student Succeeds Act.

Some of the Education Department’s key responsibilities include administering Title I funding to help schools serving low-income students obtain an equitable education regardless of their socioeconomic status; managing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act – known as IDEA – to ensure services for students with disabilities; and overseeing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid – or FAFSA – which helps millions of students afford college.

Through the FAFSA, millions of students obtain Pell Grants, which don’t have to be repaid, student loans, which do, as well as part-time work-study jobs.

In the U.S., education is mainly a state responsibility. As a result, the function of schooling largely falls to individual states.

Each state has its own education system, with most designating a significant amount of control to local jurisdictions. Locally elected school boards bear the responsibility for setting many policies and approving budgets for their district.

Federal funding makes up about 14% of K-12 education funding. States and localities foot the rest of the bill, mostly through a combination of taxes on income and property. In some cases, there are other taxes, such as those on tobacco and alcohol sales, or revenue is raised through state lottery systems.

These funding formulas can be complicated and inequitable.

Secretaries who stood out

Ultimately, the role of the secretary of education is less about wielding substantial power and more about using the position as a platform to influence the national conversation on education.

Education secretaries often act as thought leaders, shaping public dialogue and policies rather than directly implementing sweeping change. Some have garnered more attention than others.

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. Bennett also sharply criticized public education and teachers unions, blaming them for the perceived decline in the quality of American education.

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. She played an important role in implementing No Child Left Behind, a federal education initiative that aimed to increase accountability by requiring all public schools to meet consistent standards.

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. Duncan’s support for school choice and policy reforms, as well as his occasional criticisms of teachers unions, made him a controversial figure – including within his own Democratic Party.

Betsy DeVos, who served during Trump’s first administration, was one of the most polarizing education secretaries in the department’s brief history. Her tenure was defined more by efforts to diminish federal influence in education than attempts to build new initiatives or improve public education.

DeVos also supported the establishment of religious charter schools, which are funded with tax dollars but operated independently of local school systems.

Student loan debt

The amount of student debt Americans owe has hovered around $1.75 trillion in recent years. Reducing that burden was among the top priorities of Miguel Cardona, President Joe Biden’s education secretary.

In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Biden’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 per borrower. In response, the Biden administration announced other student debt relief efforts that included lower loan payments and additional forgiveness; most of them are on hold due to pending court cases.

Ultimately, the courts will determine the legality of these relief efforts – underscoring the limits of the secretary of education’s power. With the scale of this debt, I am certain that student loan debt is likely to remain a big focus for anyone serving as the secretary of education.

Culture wars battleground

Debates regarding education policies sometimes double as battles over cultural issues, such as LGBTQ rights in schools and whether parents should have more control over what students are taught in classrooms.

Conservative groups such as Moms for Liberty have pushed for laws that restrict discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity and have supported bans on transgender athletes in school sports.

LGBTQ rights organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, support policies that protect trans children from bullying at school.

On the chopping block?

The education secretary’s job would go away if Trump were to succeed with his campaign promise to “close up” the department. Doing that would require an act of Congress, but experts question whether such a measure would prevail when Republicans have narrow majorities in Congress.

Even if the department were abolished, many federal education programs could be distributed to other agencies.

The debate over the federal government’s role in education predates the establishment of the Department of Education. I have no doubt that it would continue should there not be a secretary of education anymore.

Dustin Hornbeck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.