In March 2025, a Trump administration executive order directed that the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) be closed to the “maximum extent appropriate.” So, as the transfer of day-to-day management of career and technical education (CTE) programming from the USDE to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) continues, CTE and education administrative organizations are expressing concerns that since the DOL’s focus is on workforce needs, the educational part of job awareness and career exploration will be lost. A separate but similar debate is occurring in special education since the Trump administration has signaled moving the oversight of special education from the USDE to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), although no formal plan has been made public.
In both cases advocacy groups are expressing concern that expertise from the original agencies could be lost and multi-agency collaborations will add additional layers of bureaucracy. In addition, CTE groups have pointed out that the USDE-HOL CTE and workforce development interagency agreement was created without any engagement with those in the CTE field.
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