Education

While big questions about the agency’s future remain unanswered, here is everything to know about its history, and some of the plans conservatives have pushed for dismantling it.

News4’s Aimee Cho breaks down the order and what it means for the department.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to close the Department of Education.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Education Department.

Educators are working with Howard University to help young students prepare projects in the field of biotechnology. Their students are gearing up for the citywide DC STEM FAIR coming up in April. News4’s Juliana Valencia reports.

President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday calling for the shutdown of the U.S. Education Department.

Cuts to the Department of Education have many worried about its trickle-down effect for students on the local level. News4’s Megan McGrath reports.

For parents of kids with disabilities, advocating for their child can be complicated, time-consuming — and expensive.

The Department of Education launched civil rights investigations into 45 universities, including three D.C.-area schools, on Friday over allegations that those schools had violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. According to a press release from the department, the alleged violations happened because the universities worked with “The PhD Project,” a relatively small organization aimed at helping underrepresented…

Three local universities — George Mason University, Georgetown University and Towson University — are on the list of schools being investigated by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

Students, parents and teachers gathered outside the U.S. Department of Education headquarters in Southwest D.C. Thursday evening and blasted the Trump administration’s plan to dismantle the agency. News4’s Jackie Bensen spoke with protesters who warned ending the agency would mean fewer opportunities for all.

Secretary Linda McMahon recently stumbled when she was asked about IDEA, a key law that protects students with disabilities. News4’s Ted Oberg explains why the moment has concerned so many.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration Thursday over its mass firings at the Department of Education.

Massive layoffs initiated this week at the Education Department could hamstring the federal government’s efforts to assist students with disabilities, former officials and education experts said, citing blows to the agency’s civil rights and research divisions.  On Tuesday, the department began laying off around 1,300 employees, cutting nearly half the staff in its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and over 100 from the Institute...

The lawsuit claims the layoffs are so severe that the department “can no longer function, and cannot comply with its statutory requirements.”

A Department of Education employee is raising concerns over the impact massive layoffs will have on students. For example, how can it be measured if students are learning or what schools need money if there’s no one to collect the data? “What happens now?” said Sarah Newman, an analyst with the Department of Education. That’s just one of the...

A Department of Education employee raised concerns on how the reduction in force could impact students. News4’s Walter Morris explains.

A former U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights investigator says she’s concerned about what will happen without enough investigators. News4’s Tracee Wilkins reports on the agency overhaul.

Massive layoffs hit the Education Department after President Trump vowed to close it down.

The Department of Education distributes billions in federal money to colleges and schools and manages the federal student loan portfolio. Closing the department would mean redistributing each of those duties to another agency.