After Congress established the Department of Education, the department's seven objectives in law are: Helping ensure access to equal educational opportunity for everyone. Support states, localities and public and private institutions. Promote improvements in education through research, evaluation, and the sharing of information.

Since President Trump took office, staffing at the Education Department has been cut in half, and he has been mulling an executive order to close the agency.

The department is also terminating leases on buildings in cities including New York, Boston, Chicago and Cleveland.