The Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department, headed by the Secretary of Education, who is appointed by the President with Senate confirmation and serves at the President's pleasure. It distributes federal aid to states and schools, runs the federal student-loan and financial-aid programs, collects national education data, and enforces civil rights laws in schools. It does not run local schools or set curricula, which remain controlled by states and school districts.
Created by Congress under the Department of Education Organization Act (Pub. L. 96-88, 93 Stat. 668; codified at 20 U.S.C. ch. 48 (20 U.S.C. § 3401 et seq.; department established at § 3411)), it acts within the authority that statute grants. Its actions are subject to judicial review and to congressional oversight and funding.
