National Urban League Condemns Executive Order to Dismantle Education Department
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 20, 2025) – National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial issues the following statement in response to President Trump's executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education:
"The National Urban League vehemently condemns President Trump’s reckless and dangerous executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education--- an institution that has played a critical role in upholding America’s promise of equal educational opportunity for all. This shortsighted and politically motivated action is an outright attack on the fundamental rights of America’s students—particularly Black, Brown, students with disabilities, and low-income children—who rely on federal protections to ensure they receive a quality education.
"The Department of Education was established in 1979 to fulfill the federal government’s obligation to complement the efforts of states and local school systems in improving access to, and the quality of, education for all students. For more than four decades, it has been instrumental in enforcing civil rights protections, distributing funding to underserved schools, maintaining education and civil rights data for generations of students, advancing research-based educational practices, and ensuring access to higher education through federal student aid. Stripping it away is a direct assault on the American promise of educational access and upward mobility through public education.
"By dismantling the Department of Education, President Trump is not cutting bureaucracy—he is gutting the very foundation of America’s commitment to educational equity and jeopardizing our nation’s ability to remain a leader in the global economy. This action will strip away critical safeguards that protect students from discrimination, eliminate vital funding for schools in need, and roll back progress toward closing the racial and economic achievement gap.
"Beyond its role in K-12 and higher education, the Department of Education has been pivotal in implementing student debt relief at a time when millions of Americans are drowning under the weight of educational loans. In recent years, the agency has provided life-changing financial relief to countless borrowers, helping to ease the economic burden that disproportionately impacts communities of color. Instead of offering real solutions to the ongoing student debt crisis, this administration is choosing political grandstanding over the well-being of American families.
"The American people are looking to their leaders for policies that expand opportunity, not reckless decisions that tear down institutions designed to lift people up. This is not about reducing bureaucracy—this is about eliminating the very safeguards that protect marginalized students from discrimination and educational neglect. Black and Brown children, students with disabilities, and those from low-income backgrounds in rural and urban communities will bear the brunt of this decision.
"The National Urban League calls on Congress, state and local leaders, civil rights organizations, and the American people to fight back against this attack on the education system and our nation’s future. We cannot stand idly by as this administration seeks to undermine the future of our children and strip them of their right to learn, grow, and succeed.
"We demand that Congress immediately intervene to block this catastrophic action and reaffirm its commitment to ensuring every child in America has access to a quality education."