The Department of Education Department has been front and center for the last few months, and if you’re not quite sure what it even does, you’re far from alone. There are numerous misunderstandings, misconceptions, and outright misinformation about what the DOE has an impact on — and what it doesn’t. So in order to clear it all up, Katie sat down with the Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, to understand what’s really at stake if President-elect Trump fulfills his promise of eliminating the Department of Education.
Cardona explains the Department of Education’s job “is to ensure that students across the country have access to quality public education.” Part of that means providing funding to schools — though Cardona clarifies that federal funding amounts to “only about 10 percent of education funding — the other 90 percent is state and local, so it’s not as large a role as people might think.” That includes Title 1 funding, which the department oversees and provides support to schools with high percentages of low-income students; funding for students with disabilities; and the Federal Student Aid offices, which helps families get federal aid to pay for higher education. “Congress passes legislation on funding; we ensure it gets out fairly and that the laws are being followed across the country,” he says.
Here are some more highlights from Katie’s interview.
Katie Couric: What will happen if President-elect Trump gets rid of the Department of Education?
Miguel Cardona: If the federal Department of Education goes away, we would see less oversight in terms of ensuring that students who have additional needs get the support they require. I can imagine that children with disabilities will have less protection, and there will be some places where poor decisions will be made — or dollars that are supposed to go to children with disabilities go to something else.
We saw some really poor leadership over the last year, people who were jockeying to try to become the next Secretary of Education and making decisions that really go against what parents, both Republican and Democrat, want for their children.
Is “woke ideology” really being pushed in schools?
I was a district leader, a school principal, and a classroom teacher. I can tell you right now, the power to oversee education is in the states. It’s misinformation or maybe a lack of understanding of what the role of the Department of Education is from President-elect Trump [to say the federal government controls curricula]. The role of the Federal Department of Education is to protect the rights of students and to make sure money gets to the classrooms. But the decisions on curriculum, hiring and firing, and how schools are set up are state decisions. I don’t think that, at the federal level, the Department of Education should dictate what students are learning or how they’re learning it.
I think those decisions are better made at the local level, and as a lifelong educator, this is something that I’ve supported.
To be frank, I have less say on what my children learn in the classroom now than I did when I was a classroom teacher. In every position I’ve held before Secretary of Education, I’ve had more authority to control the curriculum than I do now. That’s all misinformation intended to create division in our schools. I do not control the curriculum. In terms of indoctrination, I think the closest thing we’ve seen to that is some states buying Bibles for every student in their school.
I was at an event recently, and I saw a friend of mine from high school. He told me that his mother believed when it was said that you send your kid to school as a boy, and then he comes back three days later as a girl. It’s sad that it’s gotten to the point of direct lies being shared openly. There was a time when no party would ever stoop to that level. I have confidence that our local educators and our local parents work well together, and they’re going to continue to evolve education to make sure that our students’ needs are being met. But it really saddened me how much misinformation was being spread with the intention of dividing our communities for a vote.
What do you think about Project 2025’s plan to fire tens of thousands of civil servants and put in place loyalists?
It sounds more like a monarchy to me. We have civil servants at the Department of Education, and they serve America’s students regardless of who the Secretary of Education is. It’s their job not to be partisan. It’s their job to serve students and to follow what Congress has passed.
I worry about someone coming in and wanting unilateral authority to do whatever he or she wants. This beautiful country was developed with checks and balances. It’s really important that we have folks [at the Department of Education] with diverse perspectives. I’m not a Democratic Secretary of Education. I’m the Secretary of Education for all students, including students whose parents and families come from different political ideologies than I do, or disagree with some of the policies that I come forward with. For me, that’s un-American, undemocratic, and it’s quite frankly, pretty scary.
But — and I say this both for Democrats and Republicans — let’s just focus on the kids. Let’s disagree respectfully because our kids are watching. Let’s work together to make a more perfect union. And that means that we have to take into account what the voters have asked for but in a way that protects these institutions. We can have differences of opinion, but it’s really important that we show the country that we can work together to serve students.
What’s your reaction to Linda McMahon being nominated to replace you?
To be very frank with you, I wish her well. It’s such a tremendous responsibility. There are 50 million students in the K-12 system and another 15 to 17 million in college. It’s so important to make sure that all students have access to quality education. I certainly want to make sure that she knows that I’m available to support her transition.
I recognize the great work that the thousands of people who work at the Department of Education do on a daily basis to ensure public education and access to higher education across the country. That’s more important than any person sitting in this chair, including me. The mission to serve America’s students and families is more important than anyone sitting in this chair or the president’s chair.
But I worry about the policies that I’m hearing from the Trump administration. Do I believe that you can come in on day one and close the Department of Education? I expect Congress to do its job and protect the Department of Education and the important work it does to protect students with disabilities and students whose civil liberties have been violated, to ensure higher education access is possible. Millions of families get access to federal aid and can go to college. I was a first-generation college student myself, Katie. And if it weren’t for public education and access to higher education, I wouldn’t be sitting here as Secretary of Education. Education is the great equalizer, and it’s the role of the Secretary of Education to protect that for all students.
