The Trump administration has delivered a sweeping reset of federal education policy under Secretary Linda McMahon, dismantling diversity initiatives, restoring merit-based admissions, and handing power back to parents and states as millions of students return to classrooms this fall.
The Department of Education removed hundreds of DEI-related guidance documents shortly after Trump took office last year. Officials canceled or redirected billions in grants previously supporting what the agency labeled divisive and discriminatory programs.
Historic agreements with universities including Columbia and Brown required the institutions to dismantle unlawful DEI programming, restore merit-based admissions and hiring, and end race preferences in scholarships.
The department also reprogrammed discretionary funding from Minority-Serving Institution programs after the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded that race-based eligibility criteria violated the Constitution.
“What a travesty it is that Americans have invested $3 trillion in a federal Department of Education meant to improve student outcomes, and yet only 30% of our students can read or do math proficiently.”
McMahon made that statement about the administration’s “Returning Education to the States” initiative at a White House Rose Garden event Monday.
“This is why President Trump demanded a hard reset to our education system, and under his leadership, we are delivering it. We are taking very deliberate and thoughtful steps to return education to the states,” she said.
Iowa received the first waiver in early 2026, consolidating funding streams and freeing nearly $8 million from compliance costs for classroom use over four years. Louisiana followed, consolidating more than $18 million through 2029.
By summer 2026, six states held waivers redirecting over $100 million away from federal requirements.
Biological reality restored to Title IX
McMahon directed the department to enforce Title IX according to biological sex. The agency returned to the 2020 Title IX rule after a federal court vacated the prior administration’s regulations that expanded protections based on gender identity.
Guidance clarified that sex-based rules apply to sports, bathrooms and intimate facilities. A settlement with the University of Pennsylvania restored titles to female athletes and ended competition based on gender identity.
McMahon later welcomed a Supreme Court decision affirming states’ ability to keep males out of women’s sports.
Tax credit fuels school choice expansion
Trump’s Working Families Tax Cuts Act established the Education Freedom Tax Credit, described by the administration as the largest national expansion of education freedom in history.
Taxpayers can claim a credit of up to $1,700 for donations to scholarship-granting organizations that cover tuition, tutoring, books and other expenses at public, private or charter schools.
Nearly 52 million students are eligible, and more than 30 states have opted in or indicated they will participate.
The department also awarded a record $500 million through the Charter Schools Program. Officials redirected funds once tied to DEI programs toward evidence-based literacy instruction grounded in the science of reading, workforce training and direct classroom support.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are restoring parents’ sacred role as the first decision makers in their children’s lives. Children belong to their parents, not the federal government.”
“We’re putting the parents back in charge,” Trump said at the same Rose Garden event. “They’re the ones that love our children. They’re the ones that should be in charge.”
Discipline enforcement returns to equal treatment
The department rescinded disparate-impact provisions from its Title VI regulations in 2026, requiring evidence of intentional discrimination rather than statistical disparities alone.
New guidance directs schools to apply discipline even-handedly without considering race to achieve racial balancing.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights opened investigations into districts including one in Fayetteville, Arkansas, that allegedly instructed staff to factor race into disciplinary decisions.
Officials said the changes restore equal treatment and free teachers to maintain order without federal pressure based solely on demographic outcomes.
