STATEMENT: Trump Administration’s Gutting of U.S. Dept. of Education Threatens Educational Access for Millions of Students

March 20. 2025

For Immediate Release
Mar 20, 2025

Media Contact
Nazirah Ahmad
[email protected]

Statement from Noreen Farrell, executive director of Equal Rights Advocates, on President Trump’s move to dismantle the Department of Education

March 14, 2025  – The Trump Administration’s actions attempting to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) through massive staffing cuts will harm millions of students who rely on federal education and civil rights protections. Most at risk are the rights of students who are survivors of sexual violence, students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, students with disabilities, and those from low-income families. 

This is just the latest move by this administration to re-segregate public spheres and services.

Since Inauguration Day, we have experienced extreme executive orders slashing civil rights enforcement and attacking lawful DEI initiatives. Now the Trump Administration is systematically dismantling the Department of Education’s fundamental civil rights protection infrastructure through slash-and-burn budget cuts, hiring freezes, and dramatic staff reductions. Already, the Administration has closed more than half of the Office for Civil Rights regional offices – the offices where illegal discrimination in education gets investigated and addressed. The Administration has also severely cut staffing at other regional offices across the country. Last month, the Department announced that it would not process gender and race discrimination claims for students, and continues to flip flop on this directive daily. 

While only a formal act of Congress can abolish the Department of Education outright, the Trump intent to gut the department from within is clear. DOE Secretary Linda McMahon publicly calling these staffing reductions and office closures the first step toward total shutdown per President Trump’s directive. 

Equal Rights Advocates has spent 50 years fighting for students’ right to learn in safety. We’ve advocated for strong Title IX protections that make our students and schools safer and represented students in cases of discrimination and sexual violence, and work closely with partners throughout the nation to advocate broadly for all education civil rights.

Our children’s right to an equal education and their futures are at stake. When the Department of Education is undermined, real students lose real protections. In the face of these attacks, we must stand strong for our students. The Department’s regulations remain the law nationwide, and schools and school districts still have an obligation to follow these existing regulations and state laws.

We will continue fighting with every legal and advocacy tool at our disposal to protect our students from bearing the devastating consequences of this administration’s reckless dismantling of educational rights and protections.  

To request an interview with ERA experts, contact Blake Case at [email protected] or (601) 832-6079.

Equal Rights Advocates fights for gender justice in workplaces and schools across the country. Since 1974, they have been fighting on the front lines of social justice to protect and advance rights and opportunities for women, girls, and people of all gender identities through groundbreaking legal cases and bold legislation that sets the stage for the rest of the nation. www.equalrights.org