WASHINGTON – As the Trump administration quietly strips down operations at the U.S. Department of Education headquarters, advocates say the move comes as classrooms face a deepening literacy crisis, with reading outcomes falling and calls for reform growing louder.
At a recent Capitol Hill briefing convened by the National Parents Union and the George W. Bush Institute, parents, educators, policymakers, and leading literacy advocates highlighted how evidence-based reading instruction has improved student outcomes nationwide.
A day after the briefing, the Department of Education confirmed in a March 26 press statement that it will relocate staff to smaller offices across Washington. The Lyndon B. Johnson Building, now roughly 70% vacant following federal cuts, will be transferred to the Department of Energy.
While Congress still holds the authority to abolish the agency, advocates say the shift is more than symbolic. They argue the federal government is stepping back from education at a moment when national leadership is urgently needed.
At the “Science of Reading” briefing, policy experts warned that shifting power entirely to the states could create a more fragmented education system, producing uneven results and leaving millions of children behind.
How the Department of Education’s Decline Impacts Black Students
The Department of Education was born out of the civil rights era, created to expand access and enforce educational opportunities for Black Americans and other underserved communities. Without strong federal oversight, advocates warn that students may become more vulnerable to political shifts at the state level.
For Black students, literacy is more than an academic benchmark. It remains a civil rights issue.
During institutional, legalized slavery– Black Americans were punished, tortured, and killed for learning to read. In the decades following the 1954 Brown v. The Board of Education decision and the Department’s creation in 1979, expanded access to education helped drive economic mobility and opportunity for Black Americans.
Now, advocates warn that deep federal cuts could reverse that progress.
Black students already face systemic barriers in education. Reduced federal investment could widen those gaps, further limiting economic mobility for future generations of Black Americans.
“Literacy is not political; it is foundational. Parents do not care about ideology; they care about whether their children are learning to read. The evidence is clear that when policy is grounded in research, teachers are supported, and implementation is strong, students do better,” said Keri Rodrigues, President of the National Parents Union.
The Need for Federal Education Policy
While literacy policy has increasingly been driven by states in recent years, federal mandates still provide the framework that shapes state action. The most significant is the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which requires states to assess reading levels annually in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school to hold school districts accountable.
Parents have long sounded the alarm on the nation’s reading crisis, helping build the awareness behind the current push for reform. The National Parents Union recently celebrated the introduction of the Science of Reading Act on March 12.
NPU President Keri Rodrigues said in a statement: “For too long, our nation’s literacy crisis has left millions of children — disproportionately those in underserved communities — without the foundational skills they need to succeed. The Science of Reading Act represents a meaningful commitment to changing that trajectory by investing in what works.”
Low Reading Scores, Long-Term Consequences
The latest 2025 National Assessment of Educational Progress report shows roughly 32% of twelfth graders scored below a basic reading level.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated declines, as the shift to virtual learning disrupted instruction during critical developmental years.
Reading proficiency becomes especially critical after eighth grade, when students transition from learning to read to reading to learn.
In Oklahoma, federal funding made up 14.3% of the state’s education budget during the 2023–2024 school year. The state ranked 49th nationally in per-pupil spending, according to the National Education Association.
Disparities remain stark. Black eighth-grade students in Oklahoma scored an average of 24 points lower in reading than their White peers, a gap that has remained largely unchanged for decades.
Research shows literacy rates are closely tied to long-term outcomes, including graduation rates, employment opportunities, and interactions with the criminal justice system.
For some students, the ability to read proficiently can shape the trajectory of their entire lives.
A System Without Alignment
Despite decades of research on effective reading instruction, experts say many teachers still lack proper training.
At the briefing, speakers pointed to a persistent disconnect between teacher preparation programs, classroom instruction, and state policy. The result is inconsistent implementation nationwide.
“What happens in teacher preparation directly impacts how a teacher shows up on day one,” said Dr. Kymyona Burk, Former State Literacy Director of Mississippi and Senior Policy Fellow at ExcelinEdexpert. “But we’ve never aligned that system from training to classroom practice.”
Mississippi’s literacy gains, often cited as a national model, did not happen overnight.
“It was not a miracle,” Burk said. “It was a marathon. It took 12 years to see measurable results.”
States Left to Fill the Gap
More than 40 states have passed laws aligned with the “Science of Reading.” But without federal coordination, experts warn those efforts may not be enough.
Even before recent changes, the U.S. education system operated as a patchwork of state-level policies. The potential dismantling of the Department of Education could deepen those disparities.
“There is no silver bullet,” said Dr. Lewis D. Ferebee, chancellor of D.C. Public Schools. “This is hard work every single day.”
Federal policies like the Every Student Succeeds Act have historically provided a framework for accountability, requiring states to assess reading proficiency across key grade levels.
Without that structure, advocates fear progress could stall—or reverse.
America’s Literacy Crisis and National Security
For some experts, the stakes extend beyond education.
Illiteracy, they argue, is also a national security concern.
As military recruitment struggles nationwide, only 23% of Americans aged 17 to 25 qualify for service without a waiver, according to data from the Hoover Institution.
Kareem Weaver, co-founder of the Oakland-based literacy nonprofit FULCRUM, put it bluntly: “America’s low reading test scores are a threat to national security.”
Many young high school graduates struggle to pass the military test, let alone be ready to defend the homeland.
Despite the U.S. military and economic strength, America ranks 9th in reading scores globally – slightly below China, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD 2022) annual report.
As global competitors invest heavily in education, experts like Weaver warn that weakening national education infrastructure could carry long-term strategic consequences.
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