\n<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump didn\u2019t fulfill his pledge to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education in 2025. But he got closer than any other president in the agency\u2019s 46-year-old history, and his dramatic downsizing of the agency and attempts to redirect federal funding cast a shadow of uncertainty over schools and districts. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s why \u201cdismantle\u201d is Education Week\u2019s 2025 word of the year. <\/p>\n
Education is largely governed by states, and federal funding makes up about 10 cents for every dollar K-12 schools spend. So shifts in federal bureaucracy seem to pale compared to actions on the state and local level. <\/p>\n
But Trump\u2019s changes were unprecedented because of their scale and intensity, particularly affecting schools\u2019 hiring and budgets.<\/p>\n
For Trump\u2019s supporters, disruption is a feature, not a bug. Calls to reconstitute funding streams into block grants, reduce red tape, and waive federal accountability requirements will give states the freedom they need to make necessary innovations, they argue.<\/p>\n
But educational administrators said the push to dismantle federal oversight, alongside other efforts to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and abruptly end grant programs brought new fears about how to sustain operations at a time of declining enrollment, persistent inflation, and economic uncertainty. <\/p>\n
To select EdWeek\u2019s word of the year,we filtered through our most-read 2025 stories, polled our newsroom, and reviewed a sample of school board agendas to look for themes. \u201cDismantle\u201d seemed to best capture the topics and trends of the year.<\/p>\n
When publications select a word of the year, they generally focus on a novel word or phrase that\u2019s characteristic of the times. That\u2019s a challenge in education, where some of the best, most important work is done by educators who reject the urge to jump on every bandwagon or fad in favor of thoughtfully applying research-tested approaches to instruction. <\/p>\n
How did other outlets make the call this year?<\/p>\n
The publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary selected \u201crage bait,\u201d defined as \u201conline content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive, typically posted in order to increase traffic to or engagement with a particular web page or social media content.\u201d Sounds about right for 2025.<\/p>\n
Dictionary.com selected \u201csix-seven,\u201d a kid catchphrase with an accompanying hand gesture that spread through schools like a cold in January.<\/p>\n
Last year, we selected \u201ccellphone ban,\u201d a term reflective of the explosion of discussions about limits on personal technology in the classroom. In a similar manner, \u201cdismantle\u201d represents the current moment.<\/p>\n
Republicans have sought to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education since President Jimmy Carter signed the bill that established it in 1979. The agency was created to distribute federal funding; enforce civil rights and special education laws; and collect data on students, teachers, administrators, and classrooms that drive research on improving education.<\/p>\n
As U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has acknowledged, a presidential administration can\u2019t eliminate an agency created through legislation without approval from Congress. But that didn\u2019t stop her from making dramatic changes, many of which are subject to ongoing court challenges. A sample:<\/p>\n
On June 30, the Trump administration told states it would withhold nearly $6.8 billion in federal funding for K-12 schools it was scheduled to dole out July 1, throwing districts\u2019 plans to hire staff and continue programs into doubt as the new school year approached. The administration later released those funds, but the move left educators with an uncertainty hangover.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, ongoing funding is in doubt. House and Senate lawmakers have advanced separate federal education budget bills with vastly different funding levels for key programs in the 2026-27 school year. They have until Jan. 30 to reach an agreement\u2014or to partially shut down the government for the second time in three months.<\/p>\n
The Senate bill would maintain nearly all the existing federal funding streams for K-12 schools, and give a slight bump to annual funding for Title I, which supports low-income students, and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, serving students with disabilities. It would also explicitly prohibit the Trump administration from unilaterally withholding billions of formula dollars or moving grant programs to other agencies.<\/p>\n
The House bill more closely resembles the White House budget proposal from earlier this year. It would zero out funding for programs like Title II for professional development and Title III for English-learner services; slash annual investment in Title I by more than 25 percent; and subtract $30 million from the roughly $15 billion annual allocation for IDEA.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers have said they\u2019re looking to avoid another \u201ccontinuing resolution,\u201d which would effectively punt spending decisions and carry over funding levels set during President Joe Biden\u2019s tenure. It\u2019s not yet clear how Republicans will balance investing in education and adhering to Trump\u2019s vision, especially given their slim majorities and uncertain midterm election prospects.<\/p>\n
An even bigger question mark, though, is whether shifting political considerations or upcoming U.S. Supreme Court rulings will curtail the Trump administration\u2019s ongoing efforts to seize spending power from Congress. With no firm answers in sight, many school district leaders are already shaping budgets around massive federal reductions and bracing for continued chaos.<\/p>\n
Here are the contenders that didn\u2019t quite make the final cut.<\/p>\n
Six-seven: That annoying kid catchphrase is actually an example of \u201cchildlore,\u201d which can serve a role in children\u2019s linguistic and social development.<\/p>\n
AI-enabled: Discussions about artificial intelligence in education expanded beyond \u201chow do we keep students from cheating with ChatGPT?\u201d to \u201chow can we use AI to do everything from tutoring students to scheduling bus routes?\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond 3rd grade: After most \u201cscience of reading\u201d bills states approved in recent years focused on elementary school students, educators sounded the alarm about a lack of resources and strategies for older students who need help with foundational literacy skills.<\/p>\n
American exceptionalism: As states set history standards and districts weighed social studies curricula, debates surged about how to discuss the nation\u2019s past and contributions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Donald Trump didn\u2019t fulfill his pledge to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education in 2025. But he got closer than any other president in the agency\u2019s 46-year-old history, and his dramatic downsizing of the agency and attempts to redirect federal funding cast a shadow of uncertainty over schools and districts. That\u2019s why \u201cdismantle\u201d is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[496,969,6447,1569],"class_list":{"0":"post-37204","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-education","9":"tag-weeks","10":"tag-word","11":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}