by Christina A. Samuels, The Hechinger Report
December 18, 2025
Final yr, Undertaking 2025 was a conservative want checklist: a seize bag of proposals massive and small that will rework the federal authorities, together with in training.
Months later, a lot of these needs have grow to be actuality. That features, at the very least partially, Undertaking 2025’s final purpose of taking out the Training Division.
The division nonetheless exists — eliminating it utterly would require congressional motion— however it’s significantly diminished: A lot of the division’s work is being farmed out to different federal companies. Half of its workforce of about 4,100 folks have left or been fired. And Training Secretary Linda McMahon wrote after her affirmation that she was main the division’s “remaining mission.”
Eliminating the Training Division was simply one in all many targets, nonetheless. Whereas the administration didn’t meet all the opposite duties on this “to-do” checklist under, compiled by The Hechinger Report and taken instantly from Undertaking 2025, there’s nonetheless three extra years to go.
Early childhood
Get rid of Head Begin: NO. Head Begin, which gives free preschool for low-income youngsters, nonetheless exists, although some particular person facilities had issues accessing their cash due to non permanent freezes from the Division of Authorities Effectivity and the extended authorities shutdown. The federal authorities additionally closed 5 of 10 Head Begin regional workplaces, which collectively served 22 states.
Pay for in-home youngster care as a substitute of common (center-based) daycare: NO. Undertaking 2025 states that “funding ought to go to oldsters both to offset the price of staying dwelling with a baby or to pay for familial, in-home childcare.” There have been no strikes to meet this purpose, however the finances reconciliation invoice the president signed in July elevated the kid tax credit score and launched “Trump Accounts” for youngsters beneath age 18.
Broaden youngster look after army households: YES. The Nationwide Protection Authorization Act, handed on Dec. 17 and despatched to the president for his signature, authorizes over $491 million to design and construct new youngster care facilities for these households, amongst different provisions. The Division of Protection gives youngster care to army households on a sliding scale based mostly on earnings. Nonetheless, about 20 p.c of army households who want youngster care can’t get it as a result of there’s not sufficient house.
Give companies an incentive to supply “on-site” youngster care: NO. Undertaking 2025 states that “throughout the spectrum of professionalized youngster care choices, on-site care places the least stress on the parent-child bond.”
Okay-12 training
Transfer the Nationwide Middle for Training Statistics to the Census Bureau; switch larger training statistics to the Labor Division: NO. Training knowledge assortment stays on the Training Division. Nonetheless, the company’s capability has been sharply decreased following mass firings and the termination of key contracts — a growth not envisioned in Undertaking 2025. On the identical time, Donald Trump directed the middle to launch a significant new knowledge assortment on school admissions to confirm that schools are not giving preferences based mostly on race, ethnicity or gender.
Broaden alternative for households by making federal funding transportable to many faculty choices: PARTIAL. In January, the president signed an government order encouraging “academic freedom.” One of many order’s provisions requires the departments of Protection and Inside — which run Okay-12 colleges for army households and tribal communities, respectively — to permit mother and father to make use of some federal funding meant for his or her youngsters’s training at personal, spiritual and constitution colleges. Nonetheless, that initiative for Indian colleges ended up being scaled again after tribes protested. The “massive, stunning” spending invoice signed in July created a nationwide voucher program, however states must decide in to take part.
Ship cash now managed by the federal authorities, corresponding to Title I and particular training funding, to the states as block grants: NO. Within the present fiscal yr, about $18.5 billion in Title I cash flowed to districts to help low-income college students. States acquired about $14 billion to help educating youngsters with disabilities. Undertaking 2025 envisions giving states that cash with no strings hooked up, which it says would permit extra flexibility. Whereas the administration has not lifted necessities for all states, it’s contemplating requests from Indiana, Iowa and Oklahoma that will permit these states to spend their federal cash with much less authorities oversight. Additionally, in his fiscal 2026 finances proposal, Trump floated the thought of consolidating a number of smaller education schemes, corresponding to these supporting rural college students, homeless college students and after-school actions, into one $2 billion block grant. That may be far lower than the mixed $6.5 billion put aside for these applications within the present finances.
Reject “radical gender ideology” and “essential race principle,” and remove necessities to just accept such ideology as a situation of receiving federal funds: YES. Instantly after Trump was sworn into workplace, he reversed a Biden administration rule that included safety of LGBTQ+ college students beneath Title IX, which bans sex-based discrimination in education schemes and actions that obtain federal cash. Trump additionally signed an government order threatening to withhold federal {dollars} from colleges over what the order referred to as “gender ideology extremism” and “essential race principle.” Within the months since, the administration launched Title IX investigations at school districts the place transgender college students are allowed to take part on sports activities groups and use loos that align with their gender identification. It despatched letters to colleges throughout the nation threatening to tug funding until they comply with its interpretation of civil rights legal guidelines, to incorporate banning variety, fairness and inclusion (DEI) insurance policies and initiatives. The Training Division additionally pulled federal analysis grants and investigated colleges and schools over DEI insurance policies it calls discriminatory.
Cross a federal “mother and father’ invoice of rights,” modeled after related payments handed on the state degree: NO. Home Republicans handed a Mother and father’ Invoice of Rights Act two years in the past, which might have required districts to put up all curricula and studying supplies, require colleges receiving Title I cash to inform mother and father of any audio system visiting a faculty, and mandate at the very least two teacher-parent conferences every year, amongst different provisions. The Senate didn’t take it up, and lawmakers haven’t reintroduced the invoice on this session of Congress. About half of the states have their very own model of a parentsʼ invoice of rights.
Shrink the pool of scholars eligible free of charge faculty meals by ending the “neighborhood eligibility provision” and reject common faculty meal efforts: NO. Below present guidelines, colleges are allowed to supply free lunch to all college students, no matter their household’s earnings, if the varsity or district is in a low-income space. That provision stays in place. The Trump administration has not modified earnings eligibility necessities free of charge and reduced-price lunch at colleges: Households that earn inside 185 p.c of the federal poverty line nonetheless qualify for decreased lunch and people inside 130 p.c of the poverty line qualify free of charge lunch.
Increased training
Roll again pupil mortgage forgiveness and income-driven compensation plans: PARTIAL. Three income-driven compensation plans shall be phased out subsequent yr and a brand new one — the Reimbursement Help Plan — shall be added. RAP requires debtors to make funds for 30 years earlier than they qualify for mortgage forgiveness. The administration additionally reached a proposed settlement to finish even earlier probably the most controversial compensation plan generally known as SAVE (Saving on a Priceless Training). Trump officers have referred to the SAVE plan as unlawful mortgage forgiveness. Below the plan, some debtors had been eligible to have their loans cleared after solely 10 years, whereas making minimal funds.
Finish Guardian PLUS loans: PARTIAL. These loans, which folks take out to assist their youngsters, had no restrict. They nonetheless exist, however as of July 2026, there shall be an annual cap of $20,000 and a lifetime restrict of $65,000 per youngster. Grad PLUS loans, which permit graduate college students to borrow instantly on behalf of themselves, are being phased out. Below the Reimbursement Help Plan, graduates in sure fields, corresponding to drugs, can borrow not more than $50,000 a yr, or $200,000 over 4 years.
Privatize the federal pupil mortgage portfolio: NO. The Trump administration reportedly has been purchasing a portion of the federal pupil mortgage portfolio to personal consumers, however no bids have been made public. Undertaking 2025 additionally referred to as for eliminating the Federal Pupil Help workplace, which is now housed within the Training Division and oversees pupil mortgage applications. Training Secretary Linda McMahon mentioned the Treasury Division can be a greater dwelling for the workplace, however no plans for a transfer have been introduced.
Finish public service mortgage forgiveness: NO. PSLF permits debtors to have a part of their debt erased in the event that they work for the federal government or in nonprofit public service jobs and make at the very least 120 month-to-month funds. The construction stays, however a brand new rule may slim the definition of the sorts of jobs that qualify for mortgage forgiveness. The proposed rule raises issues that debtors working for teams that help immigrants, transgender youth or present humanitarian support to Palestinians, for instance, may very well be disqualified from mortgage forgiveness. The brand new rule would go into impact in July.
Rescind Biden-era guidelines round sexual assault and discrimination: YES. The Division of Training nearly instantly jettisoned adjustments that the Biden administration had made in 2024 to Title IX, which governs how universities and schools deal with circumstances of sexual assault and discrimination. Below the Biden guidelines, blocked by a federal choose days earlier than Trump’s inauguration, accused college students had been not assured the suitable to in-person hearings or to cross-examine their accusers. The Trump Training Division then returned to a coverage from the president’s first time period, beneath which college students accused of sexual assault shall be entitled to confront their accusers, by means of a designee, which the administration says restores due course of however advocates say will discourage alleged victims from coming ahead.
Reform larger training accreditation: YES. In an government order, Trump made it simpler for accreditors to be stripped of their authority and new ones to be accepted, saying the present our bodies — which, beneath federal legislation, oversee the standard of schools and universities — have ignored poor pupil outcomes whereas pushing variety, fairness and inclusion. Florida and Texas have began organising their very own accreditors and mentioned the administration has agreed to expedite the usually yearslong approval course of. The Division of Training has earmarked $7 million to help this work and assist schools and universities change accreditors.
Dismantle DEI applications and efforts: PARTIAL. Although the administration referred to as for eliminating school DEI applications and efforts, many of the schools which have shut down their DEI workplaces have completed so in response to state-level laws. Round 400 books faraway from the Naval Academy library due to issues that they contained messages of variety or inclusion, however many of the books had been finally returned. The Nationwide Science Basis canceled greater than 400 grants associated to a number of matters, together with DEI.
Jill Barshay, Ariel Gilreath, Meredith Kolodner, Jon Marcus, Neal Morton and Olivia Sanchez contributed to this report.
This story about Undertaking 2025 and training was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, impartial information group targeted on inequality and innovation in training. Join the Hechinger e-newsletter.
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