March 21, 2025
Trump Signs Executive Order To Dismantle The Department of Education In The Latest Attack on the Working Class
by Region 8 Webmaster John Davis

Yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. Make no mistake, regardless of what Trump says, this is a direct attack on the public education system. While the Department of Education makes up 13% of school funding nationwide, it funds some very important programs. This act is one more in a series of cruel actions taken by the Trump Administration targeting the most vulnerable of our society.

The Department of Education was established by Congress in 1979, to provide equal educational opportunity for all students. Historically, the Department of Education has had one of the smallest footprints of all federal programs and only represents 4% of the federal budget.

The elimination of the Department of Education was a centerpiece of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 which has been the blueprint Trump has used for his policies, even though he denied knowledge of it during the campaign. Project 2025 seeks to privatize public education and establish a Jim Crow view of the world that can be taught in private schools.

So just how will students be impacted? Let’s look at the primary functions of the Department of Education. First off, the Department of Education manages the student loan program. Trump has said that the program would be moved to the Treasury Department. However, with the administration targeting any college that won't bend to his demands, students at certain schools could see their loans denied.

The second largest program is Title I. Title I is a program that provides additional funding to schools whose enrollment includes a significant number of students who are below the poverty line. These schools receive additional funds for instructional aides and extra classroom units to lower class sizes. Students in Title I schools usually have fewer resources to assist in their education. With sales tax being a major way states and local governments fund schools, schools in poorer areas already have less tax dollars available for funding. Without Title I funds, many schools will lose precious resources needed to give students in these areas a fair chance.

Perhaps the students at most risk with the dismantling of the Department of Education would be special needs students. The Department of Education enforces the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which provides services to students with learning disabilities. About 15% of all students nationwide receive additional services, such as special education for dyslexia, speech and language disorders, and other health impairments such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Special Needs teachers and aides are funded for schools all across the country through the Department of Education. Trump has hinted he would like to change this funding to “block grants” for parents so they could “use the money as vouchers for private schools.” Essentially, the plan will leave states on their own to fund special needs education. In that situation, one of two things will occur. First, states will cut special needs teachers and aides. In that scenario, special needs students would receive less individualized attention. This would place additional responsibility on traditional classroom teachers to provide the extra services while reducing individualized attention for the remainder of the class. The other option would be for states to continue the current level of special needs services. All states are facing funding shortages in education budgets as it is. With sales tax being a major source of funding, the slowing economy will only reduce the amount available. To cover the additional cost of the special needs programs, states will be forced to reduce traditional classrooms, raising the classroom sizes for all students. All education data shows a direct correlation between class size and student achievement.

While that is what the Department of Education does, what does it not do? The Department of Education plays no role in setting curriculum for school systems. Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville has been making statements about “letting states decide what to teach.” (this is the same senator who in an Alabama Daily News interview after the election, Tuberville said that the European theater of World War II was fought "to free Europe of socialism" and erroneously that the three branches of the U.S. federal government were "the House, the Senate, and the executive.") Senator Tuberville is wrong again; the Department of Education does not set a curriculum. 

Another danger in sending the money to states is that states will do the right thing with the funds. Red states particularly such as Tennessee, have been expanding school voucher programs. Tennessee Governor Lee just forced the legislature to remove the school voucher option from local systems and forced them to be implemented statewide. The program provides $7,000 in assistance to students to attend a private school. The average tuition for a private school in metro Nashville is $18,000 a year. To make matters worse, out of the 95 counties in Tennessee, 44 of them don’t have a private school. How many working-class families can afford the extra $11,000 a year per student, to send their children to a private school? Will Tennessee and the other red states (many of which are in Region 8) use the money they receive from the federal government to provide services for public schools or simply use the money to provide more vouchers for wealthy families to continue sending their students to private schools? I think we all know the answer to that question.

If all of this isn’t bad enough, Trump’s action will cut school lunch programs, further attacking poorer families. All of this is to fund more tax breaks for the wealthiest among us. Any country that takes from the most vulnerable to give to those who have the most is morally bankrupt. Elon Musk, the richest man in the world who bankrolled Trump’s campaign, is busy dismantling the social safety net in this country. According to social media posts in March 2025, Elon Musk adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump — said that "the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy." This is the type of cruelty we are dealing with.

At some point, we have to decide enough is enough. Project 2025 has become a nightmare for working-class people while giving more to those with the most. Trump is taking from the poor and giving to the rich while wrecking the economy and placing all at risk. Call your representative and keep pressure on them to act. Our very way of life depends on it.