‘Our mission remains unchanged’: Utah officials react to Trump’s order to dismantle Department of Education

Any major changes to the U.S. Department of Education will require congressional approval and likely face legal challenges, the Utah State Board of Education said Thursday — hours after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to start dismantling the federal agency.

“We are committed to working closely with state leaders, local school districts and charter schools, and policymakers to provide stability, clarity, and guidance as more details emerge,” USBE said in a statement. “Utah’s students, families, and educators can be assured that we will continue to support and advocate for them every step of the way.”

However, USBE stated, the full implications of Trump’s order for Utah’s public schools “remain uncertain.”

One of the Department of Education’s key roles is providing federal funding to public schools, particularly through Title programs such as Title I, which supports schools with high numbers of economically disadvantaged students.

Many of Utah’s 330 Title I schools depend on this funding, as state contributions often fall short of meeting the requirements of high-need students.

Utah’s public education budget is roughly $8 billion, and federal money accounts for just 11% of that.

“In Utah, the vast majority of public education funding comes from state sources, with federal funds making up only a small percentage of overall education budgets,” USBE’s statement said. “Regardless of any changes at the federal level, our mission remains unchanged: providing academic and organizational excellence in Utah education.”

U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens, who represents Utah’s 4th Congressional District, applauded Trump’s executive order.

“This is long overdue, and I look forward to working with the president and [Education] Secretary [Linda] McMahon to take school choice nationwide and deliver generational change in America’s education system,” Owens posted Thursday on the social media platform X.

The executive order had been widely expected since Trump won reelection, as he pledged during his campaign to shift education authority back to the states.

“Dismantling the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) will have detrimental effects on Utah’s public school students and the vital services they currently receive,” the Utah Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, said in a statement posted to X on Tuesday, in anticipation of Thursday’s signing.

“Educators across our state are deeply concerned about our most vulnerable student populations,” UEA wrote.

Also ahead of Thursday’s order, Gov. Spencer Cox wrote in an opinion piece published in the Washington Examiner, a conservative news outlet based in Washington, D.C., that he supported dismantling the Department of Education.

In the piece, Cox argued that public education should be governed solely by the states, even if the lack of national oversight, as some have argued, may cause some states to fall behind.

“That’s how federalism works,” Cox wrote. “Our founders expected states to try different approaches and learn from one another. Innovation happens when states are free to lead, not when Washington imposes one-size-fits-all solutions.”

The piece was published about two weeks after Cox and other GOP state leaders on Feb. 28 announced a series of public education investments, including a $1,400 raise for all public school teachers.

That raise announcement came after Cox signed a bill into law on Feb. 14 that bans collective bargaining for teachers and other public workers. Utah labor unions have since launched a referendum to repeal the measure; Cox said Feb. 28 that the raises were not meant to squash the then-planned effort.