The rhetoric and reality of ‘returning education to the states’

The Trump administration’s big idea for American education is to “return” it to the states.

In practice, though, these efforts have been limited and contradictory — limited because there’s not all that much to return and contradicted by the administration’s own expansion of federal power. This became clear at a recent Chalkbeat Ideas event that I moderated with two state education leaders. 

Indiana Education Secretary Katie Jenner praised the Trump administration’s effort to reduce strings attached to certain federal dollars. But she noted that “our states have always had control of standards, curriculum, [and] assessment.” 

Rhode Island commissioner Angélica Infante-Green was more pointed: “Returning it to the states? It’s always been here.” She’s faced more roadblocks from the federal government under this administration, she said.

Here’s why state and local school leaders have seen, at best, only a modest increase in control over their schools.

The administration’s waivers of federal policy have been limited 

The Trump administration has granted waivers of certain federal rules in Iowa, Louisiana, and, earlier this week, in Indiana. “We're trying to get some of the bureaucracy and compliance out of the way,” said Jenner during the Chalkbeat webinar. 

Yet the waiver was less far-reaching than Jenner had initially asked for. Indiana estimates it will save $5 million annually to reinvest in classrooms. Every dollar matters, but this amounts to a tiny fraction of the many billions the state spends on education.

Alabama Superintendent Eric Mackey said his state is planning to seek a waiver of some of the federal rules, too. But even if it’s approved, the effect would be minimal. “Really not a lot’s changed on the federal side,” he said at an Education Writers Association panel in Baltimore earlier this month.

The high-profile Education Department changes likely haven’t affected classrooms

On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced it was transferring aspects of special education oversight to the Department of Health and Human Services. But it’s not clear if this and other high-profile efforts to dismantle the Education Department will have much practical effect.

The feds still fund various programs, mandate testing in many grades, and enforce civil rights laws. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said she will preserve the largest federal education programs even if they are moved elsewhere.

Asked for comment, an unnamed department spokesperson wrote, “states do have predominant authority over education,” which is why the “failed education bureaucracy in DC” should be eliminated.

The Trump administration has tried to exert control over policies on race and gender

Republican-controlled states have received a respite from progressive interpretations of federal civil rights law. The Trump administration quickly ended a Biden-era effort to extend antidiscrimination protections to gay and transgender students. Conservatives had decried this as a misinterpretation of law and an unwarranted extension of federal power.

Instead of fully returning this issue to the states, though, the Trump administration has flipped the script. Federal officials are investigating left-leaning states and school systems that allow transgender students to access bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams based on their gender identity rather than sex at birth.

The Education Department has also sought to restrict what it refers to as illegal DEI. Infante-Green said Rhode Island lost funding for training special education teachers on literacy because a grant application mentioned equity. Money is being withheld “if beliefs don’t match” with the administration, Infante-Green said.

The department spokesperson said that federal “grants were canceled or non-continued because of their divisive, discriminatory, and downright absurd requirements or features.”

The administration has expanded federal power in other ways

The Trump administration has also championed a school choice provision included in the tax megabill last year. States choose whether to participate, but the Treasury Department recently said that states won’t be able to create their own rules for the program. The Trump administration also recently announced a review of screen use in schools, leveraging a federal program that funds internet access. 

Again, states and local schools find themselves facing more, not less, federal involvement.

The onslaught of changes has led to a curious situation where education leaders — including both Jenner and Infante-Green — are monitoring federal policy more than before, even as the administration has said it wants less federal involvement. 

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