Good morning. We’re covering Trump’s layoffs at the Education Department, tariffs and Spelling Bee.
Education reform
Last night, the Trump administration fired more than a thousand workers at the Education Department. It’s not gone; only Congress can abolish a cabinet-level agency. But President Trump can hobble it while retaining a core staff to advance his agenda. Trump wants to use the department to crack down on schools and colleges with D.E.I. efforts he opposes. He also says parents and local governments should fully control education policy. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s allies have slashed the education research budget and moved to replace some human labor with artificial intelligence. Combined with earlier layoffs, the latest cuts will leave the agency with about half the staff it had before Inauguration Day. In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain what the Education Department does and, after this week, what it may not do. The main jobStudents are unlikely to feel much immediate impact. That’s because, despite what Trump says, state and local school districts already make their own decisions about reading lists, curriculums, teacher pay, testing policies and student discipline practices. Only about 10 percent of funding for public education flows through Washington. It’s mostly directed toward low-income and disabled students. Trump can’t withhold that money. The government distributes it according to formulas set by Congress. Most of the Education Department’s budget helps students pay for college, through grants and loans. Many Trump allies believe that the student aid program should be transferred to the Treasury Department — and sources in Washington say that work is now underway. The department’s critics
The federal government has collected data and conducted research on education since the 19th century. But historically, both Democrats and Republicans have doubted whether the United States needs a cabinet department for this. Jimmy Carter created the department in 1979, fulfilling a campaign promise to teachers’ unions. But even he was skeptical. At a celebration of the agency’s creation, Carter tempered the crowd’s exuberance, warning, “This thing won’t work as well as you think it will.” Some liberals flatly opposed the department back then, believing that a single federal agency should handle all the programs — health care, cash welfare and education — that affect kids. Still, in recent decades, the Education Department’s work became part of the Beltway firmament and enjoyed bipartisan support. Many of the programs it oversees are popular. Those include Pell grants, which pay for college tuition, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which helps disabled children get services. Trump’s education goalsThe right’s view has changed in recent decades. Republicans like George W. Bush thought the federal government had an important role: It should ensure that students really learn at school, and it should push more students to and through college. Trump’s movement has a very different agenda. He and his allies want to give parents public dollars they can use to pay for private school tuition and home-schooling. Conservatives also oppose student debt forgiveness, a Biden administration priority. (Joe Biden wiped away debt for millions of borrowers. The Supreme Court blocked part of that effort, calling it illegal.) Alongside some liberal allies, they now argue that fewer Americans need traditional four-year college. Both Trump and his education secretary, Linda McMahon, have encouraged more students to pursue vocational education instead. Student performance
Trump officials posit that test scores are low because of the federal role in education. And like any government bureaucracy, there is bloat — dated websites and research projects that aren’t relevant to students or teachers in the real world. Still, achievement improved during two periods when Washington was unusually involved in schools, scholars say. In the 1970s and 1980s, when courts desegregated Southern classrooms, academic gaps between racial groups closed significantly. Test scores also rose in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Experts are still debating why, but those years were the height of a bipartisan movement focused on standards and accountability. Bush signed a law holding schools and teachers accountable for student test scores. Barack Obama supported those goals, too. But that meant students took more exams, and a backlash to testing gathered strength. In 2015, Obama signed a law relaxing the federal pressure. In other words, yesterday’s cuts come at a time when federal involvement in classrooms is the lowest it has been in decades. More on the federal government: The Trump administration intends to eliminate Environmental Protection Agency offices responsible for addressing the disproportionately high levels of pollution facing poor communities.
Tariffs
Trump vs. Canada
War in Ukraine
More on Trump
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International
Covid Anniversary
Other Big Stories
Opinions The United States’ unreliability is encouraging allies to develop nuclear weapons. Trump should denounce their plans, Bill Hennigan writes. After a pandemic, it takes years for normalcy to return. Trust in public health speeds up that progress, Charles Kenny writes. Here are columns by Thomas Friedman and Bret Stephens on Trump’s zigzagging policies. Save up to 75% on Games. Our best offer won’t last. Love to play? Discover all our games. Subscribe to New York Times Games today and save up to 75% on your first year — improve your Wordle strategy with Wordle Bot, reach Genius on Spelling Bee, plus more. Come play with us.
Spooky: This fall’s fashion has a “witchy vibe.” Space: Astronomers knew Saturn had at least 146 moons. They just spotted another 128. “Bookie boo”: On TikTok, choreographers are finding words for their moves. Orange feathers: In Michigan, a snowy owl named Rusty or Creamsicle has enthralled and mystified bird watchers. See a photo. Most clicked yesterday: These exercises can help you age well. Dog as default: Cats often remain medical mysteries. Lives Lived: Stanley Jaffe was a Hollywood wunderkind — president of Paramount at 29 — who went on to be an Oscar-winning producer of films such as “Kramer vs. Kramer,” “Fatal Attraction” and “The Accused.” He died at 84.
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