As President Donald Trump Jr. steps back into federal government, worries began to spread about the future of the Department of Education (DOE). On March 20th, he signed the executive order to dismantle the DOE. His signature accompanied a speech where he said, “Beyond these core necessities, my administration will take all lawful steps to shut down the department. We’re going to shut it down as quickly as possible. It’s doing us no good.”
Now, you may be wondering: What does this mean for future generations and aspiring educators? What are the DOE’s responsibilities? What does my future look like as a college student?
What is the Department of education and what is it doing?
According to the United States Department of Education official website, “The U.S. Department of Education is the agency of the federal government that established policy for, administers and coordinates most federal assistance to education.” A few of its jobs include ensuring equal educational opportunities, improving quality of education, and dispersing federal funds.
What has Trump done so far?
1. Banned Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs (Week of January 20)
2. Terminated millions of dollars from the Department of Agriculture that pays for food at childcare programs (Week of March 3)
3. Cut DOE workforce in half (Week of March 10)
4. Caused student loan and special education services to move out of DOE and into the Small Business Administration (Week of March 17).
5. Actions against universities:
- Investigations of San Jose University, UPenn, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association for allowing trans athletes to participate on female teams
- Staff cuts at two federally run tribal colleges (Haskell Indian Nations University and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute)
- Canceled $400 million in federal aid to Columbia University because of the “harassment of Jewish students”
- Arrested foreigners that participated in Gaza war protests
Okay, so what does all of this mean?
In the end, Republicans have a goal in their dismantle of the DOE. Their goal is to shrink the government and return the role of education oversight to the state. Trump also claimed that parents need, “opportunities for students to attend the school that best fit their needs.”
However, this change creates a domino effect of changes coming to those involved in education. Almost everything that has to do with the funds for college education will move to the U.S Treasury. People expect the assistance of financial aid to be minimized and move slower. The country is looking at a weaker access to equal access to education for minority groups.
As for future educators, the future begins to look more uncertain. Taking away funds for disabled and special education students puts more strain on teachers to provide support for students in need as if there wasn’t already a teacher shortage that was doing harm to public education.
It’s essential to ensure that if power over education is moved to state government, they step up to the plate and ensure that the children of our future have a reliable and steady education path to rely on.