During her confirmation hearing in the Senate on Thursday, February 13, President Trump’s pick for education secretary, Linda McMahon, told lawmakers that closing the U.S. Department of Education (ED) would require an act of Congress, and that she supports the President’s goal of dismantling the federal agency, saying ED was responsible for a “small minority of the funding,” but “the vast majority of bureaucracy and red tape” in the U.S. education system. McMahon also stated she would not seek to reduce funding for Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), two of the largest K–12 federal grants, but instead suggested that other federal agencies, such as the Department of Health and Human Services, would be better suited to managing grants such as IDEA.

Read more in this Education Week article or from the Associated Press. Education leaders in both the Senate and House are also watching carefully; learn more in this press release from the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Also this week, the administration terminated 89 Department of Education contracts, amounting to nearly $900 million in contracts for research projects and services used by schools, students, and researchers nationwide. Although some of the contracts dealt with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), most of the contracts were generated from the Institute of Education Sciences. Read more here.

Trump Issues Executive Orders on DEI and Education

President Trump’s executive order on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility has caused a great deal of uncertainty across the education and the science communities.

Specifically, the executive order states, “The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), assisted by the Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), shall coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear. To carry out this directive, the Director of OPM, with the assistance of the Attorney General as requested, shall review and revise, as appropriate, all existing Federal employment practices, union contracts, and training policies or programs to comply with this order. Federal employment practices, including Federal employee performance reviews, shall reward individual initiative, skills, performance, and hard work and shall not under any circumstances consider DEI or DEIA factors, goals, policies, mandates, or requirements.”

The Washington Post reports, “At the National Science Foundation [NSF], staff have been combing through thousands of active science research projects, alongside a list of keywords, to determine if they include activities that violate executive orders President Donald Trump issued in his first week in office. Those include orders to recognize only two genders and roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The search is driven by dozens of flagged words, according to an internal document reviewed by The Washington Post and two NSF employees with knowledge of the review process who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak. The words triggering NSF reviews provide a picture of the sievelike net being cast over the typically politically independent scientific enterprise, including words like ‘trauma,’ ‘barriers,’ ‘equity,’ and ‘excluded.’”

In addition to the DEI order, three executive orders directed to education policy underscore the administration’s broader push to reshape federal education policy in alignment with its ideological stance.

The first executive order, titled “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling,” seeks to cut federal funding for schools that teach what the administration describes as "gender ideology and critical race theory." It also directs the Attorney General to work with local officials to take legal action against educators and school officials accused of facilitating a minor’s gender transition. The order extends to teacher training and certification programs that support these concepts and calls for an "Ending Indoctrination Strategy" within 90 days.

The second order prioritizes school choice, instructing the Education Department to issue guidance on how states can support scholarship programs with federal funding. The order directs multiple federal agencies—including the Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, and Interior—to expand access to private, faith-based, and alternative education options. The order also mandates a review of federal grant programs to ensure they align with the school choice agenda.

The third order addresses antisemitism on college campuses, charging the Justice Department with prosecuting antisemitic crimes, including vandalism and intimidation. It directs the deportation and visa revocation of students found sympathetic to Hamas and calls for investigations into "anti-Jewish racism" at colleges deemed leftist or anti-American.

Reading and Math Continue to Slide in 2024 NAEP Results

Reading scores in 2024 for each grade level fell 5 points from 2019 levels. For math, the average score dipped 3 points for fourth graders and 8 points for eighth graders between 2019 and 2024.

“NAEP has reported declines in reading achievement consistently since 2019, and the continued declines since the pandemic suggest we’re facing complex challenges that cannot be fully explained by the impact of COVID-19,” said National Center for Education Statistics Associate Commissioner Daniel McGrath in a Wednesday statement.

Read the NAEP press release here.

Stay tuned for more advocacy and policy updates in future issues of NSTA Reports and NSTA Weekly.

The mission of NSTA is to transform science education to benefit all through professional learning, partnerships, and advocacy.