Utah educators say they’ll provide guidance as Trump signs order to eliminate Education Department

SALT LAKE CITY — President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday, beginning the process of eliminating the U.S. Department of Education.

Afterward, the Utah State Board of Education said that any change to the federal education department has to be made in concert with Congress.

“Any major restructuring or elimination of federal education funds will require Congressional action, and will likely be subject to legal review,” said Sharon Turner, with the Utah State Board of Education.

And Turner said that some programs like child nutrition are funded not by the Department of Education, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, the USDA is also facing cuts by DOGE and the Trump administration.

In Thursday’s announcement, President Trump said that some key sources of federal funding for education will remain in place. He named money for special education and college loans and grants, specifically.

Turner said that while the implications of the new federal order are unclear, they’re committed to helping districts maneuver the new landscape.

How education is funded

The federal Department of Education is not the only way Utah receives federal funding for schools. Turner said most of the money provided for public education funding in Utah comes from the state.

And Utah isn’t alone. The New York Times reports that money from the federal government only amounts to about 10% of school funding nationwide.

The DOE itself reports that state and private funding for education is especially prevalent at the elementary and secondary level, “where about 92% of the funds will come from non-Federal sources.

How federal funds are spent on education in Utah

According to Education Utah, much of the money that Utah receives from the federal government for education is earmarked “for Utah’s most disadvantaged students.”

“The majority of this money is given out through three major grant programs: Title I, School Lunch, and Special Education,” the education advocates wrote on their webpage.

In 2022, Voices for Utah Children said that, according to the Utah State Board of Education, the most significant increase in education funding, post-pandemic, had come from the local level, “primarily property taxes.”