The administration has taken a major step in its plan to reshape federal education work. The Department of Education has announced several new deals that move many programs to other parts of the government. These actions mark one of the biggest moves yet in the push to reduce the role of the department. The strategy is part of a larger plan that aims to give more power to states and cut the size of federal oversight. Supporters say the plan will remove many layers of rules. Critics fear it may damage public services that rely on stable funding. The new agreements send programs to four major agencies. Work linked to elementary and secondary schools will now sit with the Department of Labor. Some grants for higher education will also move there. The Department of Interior will handle programs linked to Native education. The Department of Health and Human Services will take charge of childcare programs and foreign medical school checks. The State Department will run international education programs. These steps aim to place each group of tasks in the agencies that already manage similar work. While the programs shift, oversight stays with the Department of Education. Officials say the department has broad power to make deals with other agencies to carry out tasks. The move lets the department reduce direct work without a full shutdown. Staff who work in the affected programs can choose to move to the agencies that will now host their duties. Officials say this gives workers a way to stay with the same type of work, even if the work now sits under a different part of the government. The administration has made clear that the goal is to break down what it sees as a large and slow federal structure. Leaders argue that education decisions should rest with states and local communities. They say the change will remove many rules and help schools use funds in a simple way. The plan also aligns with a wider push in the administration to reduce the size and cost of government. The effort gained force after an order signed in March. That order called for plans to close the Department of Education. The steps announced now show how the plan may unfold. While some lawmakers support the idea, others say a full shutdown needs votes in Congress. Past attempts to close the department have not won enough backing. Yet some leaders in the Senate have filed bills that call for the shutdown. These bills have begun early debate, but the final outcome remains unclear. The department has already moved several programs. In September, it sent career, technical, and adult education grants to the Department of Labor. Officials said this will help link workforce programs in one place. They believe this will make funding easier to track and use. More changes may follow if early steps work as expected. The administration has also discussed moving all student loan work to another agency. Plans for that shift are not yet complete. The Supreme Court added momentum when it approved a plan to remove more than 1,300 workers from the department. The ruling came in July. The decision gave the administration room to cut the size of the agency without breaking current rules. The plan to reduce the staff count is now moving forward. Leaders argue that a past government shutdown showed the department is no longer needed. They point out that schools kept running even during long delays. They say teachers kept their jobs and school schedules stayed on track. They believe this is proof that states can run their own school systems without help from Washington. Still, many people who work in education worry about what comes next. Teachers say that losing a central agency could place funds at risk. Some fear that programs for low-income schools, special needs students, and rural areas may become unstable. Others worry that shifting programs may create confusion during the change. They say it feels like a period of fast change with little clarity on the final shape of the system. Experts note that the federal education shift may take years to complete. The outcome will depend on new rules, legal steps, and actions in Congress. For now, the latest agreements show that the plan is moving forward. Whether the changes help or harm schools will remain a major topic of debate.