On Thursday, the Trump Administration released a long-anticipated executive order, commanding newly confirmed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to take steps to pave the way for closing the Department of Education (DOE).
This executive order does not eliminate the DOE outright; such an action is not within the scope of the president’s powers and requires congressional approval. But it does direct the secretary of education to continue the layoffs, consolidations, and shrinking of services we have seen already, while the department provides constitutionally mandated funding and services.
There is considerable breadth to the services provided by the DOE, something we discussed in detail on our virtual town hall with experts earlier this month.
In our state specifically, the DOE sends $3.66 billion annually to support 5.6 million kids in Texas K-12 schools. Another $134.7 billion comes to Texas to invest in two- and four-year colleges, as well as trade schools.
Given the underfunding of public education by the state of Texas, ensuring this vital funding makes its way to our neighborhood schools without delay or issue is a top concern for our union and for the educators we represent.
That reality also makes it all the more galling that the trifecta of our state leaders – Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton – were on hand at the White House signing of the executive order and boasted on social media about “returning education to the states.”
In a statement yesterday, Texas AFT President Zeph Capo underscored why our state leaders may be so gleeful about the reduction of the DOE’s diminished form: gutting the federal agency that provides oversight of student civil rights means fewer eyes on a state like Texas’ continued underfunding and under-resourcing of special education.
“It makes perfect sense for Gov. Greg Abbott to be on hand for the dismantling of the Department of Education. It was the only governmental entity holding his administration accountable for guaranteeing parents’ and students’ rights to a free and fair education,” Capo said in the statement. “This state was illegally capping the number of children receiving special education services as recently as 2017. It was only through the diligent work of disability advocates and journalists that the issue was brought to the fore, and the Department of Education intervened.”
Our national union has already vowed to challenge this order in court. Earlier this week, AFT announced it was suing the DOE for eliminating access to income-driven repayment plans that are the foundation for our members to take part in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.
As usual, the people who will be hurt most by reckless policy changes and the destabilizing of federal education support are our students, a sentiment that AFT members across the country have echoed.
“I know eliminating the Department of Education will hurt Texas children by cutting services that support our students by $3.66 billion. These much-needed services include our resources for our Title I schools, speech services, life skills, before- and after-school programs, and bilingual education,” said Sharon Snowton, a retired bilingual educator from Cedar Hill ISD, in a joint statement with other AFT members. “These actions will hurt our students in rural communities, our military families, our Native American students, and our students with disabilities. So thank you, Gov. Abbott, for going along with the Trump administration’s misinformation campaign and choosing to harm our Texas students. It really says a lot.”