What does the Department of Education do, anyway?
I was talking to some people the other day when I was asked about what would happen to my job if the US Department of Education went away. As a public school teacher, I feel threatened whenever someone questions the necessity of my job and the structures that are in place to protect students. To be honest, it wasn’t my finest moment. I reacted more than I responded. It did, however, get me to thinking about how the general public perceives the role of government in education, and more specifically, what role does each level of government play in education. I’m going to speak to how things work in Michigan, because that’s where I live and work. Not every state works the same way.
Local School Boards
This is where the real work happens. School districts can be tiny, with just one or two buildings serving their whole population of a few hundred (or sometimes less) students from K-12. Some districts are huge, with dozens of elementary schools and several middle schools and high schools, serving thousands of students. Detroit Public Schools serves nearly 50,000 students this year. This school year, according the the Michigan High School Athletic Association, Fordson High School in Dearborn had an enrollment of over 2700 students, while Waldron High School in Hillsdale County had an enrollment of 75 students. There are many charter schools that are even smaller.
Local school boards are responsible for hiring all the employees that work in these local schools. Teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals and support staff are hired by School Boards to fill the positions that have been identified as necessary to provide a high quality education for the students in their district.
As a teacher, my colleagues and I have been hired to design and deliver lessons that fit the educational needs of the students in their classrooms. We look at the standards that have been given to us by the state and we deliver instruction to our students to make sure that our students leave our classes with the skills they need to succeed at the next level of their education, or the next stage of their life. That looks different for every one of our students. College-bound students need different things than those students not going on to college, for whatever reason.
At each building, administrators have been hired to oversee the buildings and the employees that work in those buildings. Their main task is to support the work that happens in the classrooms. Sometimes that’s by making sure teachers have the materials they need to deliver their lessons well. Sometimes that’s by making sure there are enough other adults in the building to help teachers address the needs of all the students enrolled, including in-class paraprofessionals, security staff, lunchroom staff and custodial staff. Some of these folks help specifically with students that have accommodations for special needs, usually documented in an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) of what is known as a 504 plan, all of them help make the learning environment better for every student.
The goal of every local school district is to provide the best education possible, given the resources provided by the larger governmental bodies. In Michigan, this means the funds provided by the state for operation and the funds provided by local property owners through property tax assessments for buildings and facilities.
What local districts (in Michigan) don’t do: they don’t set education policy, they don’t set curriculum standards, and they don’t decide how much money comes in for each student. All of that is set at the state level. There are also some policies designed to ensure every student has an equal opportunity to education that are set at the federal level.
County Intermediate School Districts (ISDs)
In Michigan, the county ISD is where specialized services are coordinated. This includes career and technical training, specialized student services such as speech and hearing, and other specialized services.
In some states, local school are organized at the country level, rather than the community level. For example, when I lived in Indiana there were county high schools and middle schools, rather than community high schools. Some county ISDs also create a county-wide school calendars that set holidays and other procedures that help manage resources among the county schools.
State Boards of Education and Legislatures
The state level is where most of education policy is established. State boards and legislatures are responsible for establishing funding for the local schools. In Michigan, that is done through a per-pupil allotment that is set the state legislature through the state budgeting process. State boards of education decide on state curriculum and high school graduation requirements. They decide what rules local districts need to follow with regards to funding, employment requirements, certification and licensing, teacher training and continuing professional development hours and topics.
If you look at the state rankings for education published in several different places, the reason for those rankings ultimately comes back to the state itself. Individuals schools play a roll in educating individual students, but the polices, funding and prescribed curriculum is determined by the state. If a state has a low measures of quality, however that is measured in these listings, the reason for that low ranking is almost entirely up to the state.
The biggest impact, in my opinion, on a state’s education quality is funding. A state government can set all the standards and conditions on teachers and schools and competencies for graduation, but if these isn’t enough money to hire and retain quality teachers and staff, the schools will always be struggling.
According to World Population Review, the top states for education have either high average teacher salaries, low student-to-teacher ratios or high per-pupil funding. Those at the bottom of the lists struggle with teacher retention, per-pupil funding and student-to-teacher ratios.
Federal Department of Education
This is where a lot of politicians are twisting things. The US Department of Education (USDEd) does not set any curriculum for the nation’s schools. If you are upset about what your child is learning in school, talk to the district and talk to the state. The Feds have nothing to do with it. If you worry about how much funding your school gets for general education needs, like your child’s 5th Grade classroom teacher’s salary, or their high school science equipment, talk to the district and talk to the state.
What the federal Department of Education does do is make sure that all students are being offered an equal opportunity to education. One of the biggest things the USDEd does is to provide funding for at risk students. The first pool of money comes in the form of Title I grants. These provide funds to schools with high populations of low-income students, to the tune of about $18 billion, nationally. The second pool, about $14 billion, comes through the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, which provides money for special education services for students with physical disabilities, and also for those with learning disabilities. In short, if your child has an Individual Learning Plan (IEP) or a Section 504 plan, your school likely gets funding from the Department of Education.
The Department of Education is also involved in many smaller grant programs like the Perkins grants for career and technical education, grants for training and professional development for new teachers through Title II, and language learning support through Title III.
Other than funding, the other central task of the Department of Education is to enforce civil rights laws in education. Federal law prohibits the discrimination of students or staff on the basis of race, religion, sex and disability status. It is up to the USDEd to investigate and resolve complaints of discrimination in US public education. These cases are mostly found under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Individuals with Disabilities Act.
According to Education Week, the main offices of the Department of Education are:
The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, which oversees policy to support state agencies and school districts in improving preschool, elementary, and secondary school student achievement;
The Office of English Language Acquisition, which works to improve academic outcomes and access for English Learners;
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which supports the education of students with disabilities;
The Institute of Education Sciences, which facilitates research on educational issues and student academic performance;
The Office for Civil Rights, which enforces laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, and disability status;
And the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, which supports career preparation programs for K-12 students.
In short, the US Department of Education is where equity in education is preserved. It’s how each student in the country is guaranteed a free public education, regardless of race, sex, location, socioeconomic status, or any other situation out of their control. It’s what allows parents to get special help for their children through IEPs and 504s. It’s what provides coordination for student loans and grants for post-secondary education. It’s what provides funding for special services needed for low income and special needs students.
If your local local school is struggling, talk to the school board. If your county’s schools are struggling, talk to your ISD. If you state schools are struggling, talk to your state leadership. If the nation’s schools are struggling, talk to the Feds. But don’t tell me we need to get rid of the Department of Education. Reform, maybe. Abolition, absolutely not.
Notes
https://www.mischooldata.org/student-enrollment-counts-report/
https://www.mhsaa.com/sites/default/files/2022-06/2021enroll.pdf?time=1733529600118
https://www.gomaisa.org/value-of-isds/
https://mlpp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ed-funding-101.pdf
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/public-school-rankings-by-state
https://wallethub.com/edu/e/states-with-the-best-schools/5335
https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/the-u-s-department-of-education-explained/2024/10