When the Trump administration moves to dismantle it Education Departmentauthorities suggest that other agencies can take over their primary responsibility. Probably civil rights enforcement to the Department of Justice. Student loans to finance or commercial. Monitoring student disability rights to health and human services.
It is not very clear what will happen in the more lofty parts of that mission. This promotes equal access for students in the fundamentally unequal American education system.
The department cut its workforce in half. 1,300 layoffs It was announced on Tuesday. President Donald Trump pledged to eliminate the division completely during his campaign, and wasted it, It penetrated the left wing.
Without the department, advocates worry that the federal government would not look the same for poor students, students still with English, students with disabilities, and poor students studying racial and ethnic minorities.
“To block agents charged to ensure equal access to education for all children will only create a lower class of students,” said Weadé James, senior director of K-12 education policy at a think tank that advocates racial equity policies and advocates for increased investment in public schools.
Established in 1980, the equity target for the education sector emerged in part from the poverty and civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s. The legislation that creates the department described its mission in part as “to strengthen the federal government’s commitment to ensuring equal access to educational opportunities for all individuals.”
As Trump hopes, new education secretary Linda McMahon said he was “out of work,” the government said the bully’s pulpit would be lost, and the bully’s pulpit to evangelize the solution.
However, Petrili wonders about a massive cut in the sector — if not completely eliminated — is “notable in the real world.”
Test scores continue to show that many school children struggle academically. The latest national test showed a third of eighth grade students There are no basic skills Reading has widened the gap between students with the best and the poor performance. It’s justification that McMahon and other Trump allies used to dismantle the department and send the funds directly to the country.
Far from perfect, the department offers schools a valuable “North Star.” It is the department’s role to implement guardrails, investments and protections “support students equal outcomes.”
Trump says he wants to return all control over the school to the state.
The biggest question for many is what happens to the billions of dollars sent to run public schools each year. For example, Title I fundraising supports schools in communities with a high concentration of poverty.
Educating low-income children and students Learn English Also, people with disabilities often cost more because they require professional education or smaller classes of sizes. Districts without a strong tax base that fund schools often struggle to meet the needs of these students. Congress was granted by approving the money.
McMahon says there are fewer restrictions and they want to send money directly to the state. Without guardrails and federal oversight, some are worried that states will use this money to advance their priorities in a way that potentially establishes inequality.
If funds are distributed to the states as block grants, it is potentially a “way to reimburse public education,” Del Pilar said. The block grant will allow politicians to “direct funds to what they think is appropriate and that could leave school,” he said.
Students in Mississippi, South Dakota, Arkansas, Montana and Alaska could be most affected if rules or oversights on how states spend this money change. From 2021 to 2022, these states relied on federal aid for at least 20% of their school funding, according to government data.
Institutions have traditionally worked on behalf of underprivileged students through civil rights offices. Students with disabilities And students face harassment linked to skin tone. Under the Trump administration, agencies are prioritizing Anti-Semitism allegations.
While some supporters are worried about pivoting priorities, some lawyers say they have given up on recommending parents pursue complaints for civil rights.
A. Kelly Neal, a special education lawyer in Macon, Georgia, said the system moved slowly before Trump was sworn into his second term, but it’s getting worse now.
“Usually they were a little better responsive,” Neal said. “It may not have been the response you wanted, but at least they tried to pretend they were doing something.”
She said it would be fine if the Justice Department took on the execution of these cases.
As part of cracking down on diversity, equity and comprehensive initiatives, the Trump administration last month ended its contract for the Equity Assistance Center South, a technical assistance program for southern school districts that still operates under a federal separation order. On Tuesday, the Southern Education Foundation appealed its decision to cancel the contract that operates the center.
Attempts to close these such centers “constrain government responsibility to help districts address educational inequality and provide greater educational opportunities for students,” said Raymond Pierce, president and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation.
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Associated Press writer Heather Hollingsworth contributed to this report.
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