Episode 138: When Politics Meets the Classroom — How Federal Education Cuts Threaten Communities of Color

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Foreign welcome to another episode of K12 Education Untangled. My name is Dr. Kim J. Fields, former corporate manager turned education researcher and advocate, and I'm the host of this podcast. I got into this space after dealing with some frustrating interactions with school educators and administrators, as well as experiencing the microaggressions that I faced as an African American mom raising my two kids who were in the public school system. I really wanted to understand how teachers were trained and what the research provided about the challenges of the public education system. Once I gained the information and the insights that I needed, I was then equipped to be able to successfully support my children in their educational progress. This battle tested experience is what I provide as action steps for you to take. It's like enjoying a bowl of educational research with a sprinkling of Mother Wisdom on top. If you're looking to find out more about current information and issues in the public education that could affect you and your children, and the action steps that you can take to give your children the advantages they need, then you're in the right place. Thanks for tuning in today. I know that staying informed about K12 public education trends and topics is important to you, so keep listening. Give me 30 minutes and I'll untangle the latest trends, issues and topics pertaining to this constantly evolving K12 public education environment. In this episode, I'll be discussing what the potential closing for the Department of Education could mean for you. I'm sure you've heard the news about the potential closing of the Department of Education by the current White House administration, but what is the impact to you and your children should this plan proceed? I looked into this issue to find out exactly how close to home this hits. I discussed with the potential closing of this federal education agency means especially for communities of color in this episode. Let's untangle this. I tend to stay away from national politics, but the agenda to close the US Department of Education is an issue that could negatively impact families of color. I'll share my thoughts about these impacts after I highlight my findings. States are suing the Trump administration over the Department of Education staff firings. The firings would shrink the department staff of more than 4,000 employees to fewer than 2,200. The ultimate goal is to abolish the department, although closing the department is an act that requires congressional approval. This mass reduction in workforce is so severe and extreme that it prevents the Department of Education from carrying out its congressionally mandated functions. Supposedly, no employees were terminated who work on programs for student loans, grant programs, students with disabilities, and the Office of Civil Rights. The Department of Education was created by Congress in 1979 and it touches nearly every level of this nation's education system from early education through higher education. It is the smallest cabinet agency by employee count and oversees a budget of approximately $80 billion. That's billion with a B. It distributes funding to schools with its two largest funding streams, supporting low income students and students with disabilities totaling roughly $34 billion. And as of 2024, it manages more than $1.6 trillion in federal student loans from 45 million borrowers. Beyond its financial responsibilities, the Department collects data, disseminates research, and investigates discrimination in schools and universities. The firings disproportionately affected the Department's Office of Civil Rights, its research arm, and its financial aid office, which is the largest by headcount. The Department of Education's research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences, oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP and statistics gathering and dissemination through the national center for Education Statistics. This is the unit that is responsible for producing the academic achievement statistics typically known as the nation's report card. The concern with the staff reduction in the Institute of Education Sciences is related to both the the data that look like they are no longer going to be collected and the loss of capacity to do data analysis. The national center for Education Statistics maintains the Common core of data, which is a collection of information on public elementary and secondary schools that undergirds an enormous amount of research in K12 education. The education Department's anti discrimination enforcement arm, the Office for Civil Rights, is another division sustaining heavy cuts. This office existed even before the Education Department was carved into its own agency 45 years ago and was key to desegregating schools. The federal Student aid Office had a 23% staff cut of its 1,371 full time employees and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the primary office supporting K12 districts, lost at least 17% of its staff. That's 17% of its staff. The office that oversees compliance of Individuals with Disabilities in Education act, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative services, had a 9% staff cut. The issue with this type of reduction in force across the Department of Education is that it undermines effectiveness and efficiency and sets us back as a nation potentially for decades. When it comes to special education, states themselves are struggling. Thirty states and the District of Columbia were out of compliance with federal disability law as of June 2024. These cuts to various sections in the Department of Education means that states will have to undertake many of these activities, including collecting statistical information about student progress and and appropriate allocations for funding programs determined by whether the school district is in the city, suburb, town, or rural area. If funding for these different categories of school districts becomes competitive, the large metropolitan schools will have more capacity to apply and leverage resources than rural school districts who may not have access to those same resources. The federal government has trust agreements with hundreds of Native American tribes nationwide to ensure that in exchange for seeding their land, these groups conveniently have access to education and health care. The national center for Education Statistics has been conducting an ongoing National Indian Education Study which tracks Native American students exam scores and their exposure to instruction on Native history, language, and culture. With employee layoffs, it would be difficult to determine how well Native American students are doing academically and the extent to which they're exposed to Native American Native language, culture and history. Cuts affecting special education will hit particularly hard in Native American communities as well. Roughly 19% of students nationwide who are identified as American Indian and Alaska Native are eligible for special education services, a larger percentage that than for any other racial category compared with roughly 15% of the overall K12 student population. Lastly, most of the Education Department's Office of English Language Acquisition was eliminated through the reduction in force. This office holds states and local districts accountable for supporting English learners and oversees professional development grants for educators working with English learners. The Executive Order that made English the official language could create long term challenges to meet multilingual students needs. This office is also charged with ensuring that states abide by the 1974 Supreme Court decision guaranteeing English learners the right to English language instruction. The United states has currently 5.3 million English learners, so any downsizing of staff in this office would be detrimental to the types of resources and support that educators are receiving at this moment. Have you had a chance to check.

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The US Department of Education is blocking access to tens of millions of dollars meant for K12 schools. The problems like the federal government failing to reimburse funding funds for school district expenses have affected at least seven states including California, New York, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Utah. At least 11 other states, education departments haven't experienced any delays in getting their school districts reimbursed. The money in question comes from a very small amount of leftover pandemic relief funds that school districts and states have allocated and are waiting to spend on programs providing pandemic relief for public schools and private schools. In Illinois, for example, education officials are waiting on roughly $8 million to cover district expenses like transportation for homeless children, adaptive technology for children with disabilities, certification for teachers of English learners, and after school tutoring to address learning loss. Impacted school districts may have to stop these services that are paid by these grants if the funding does not continue. These ongoing funding disruptions more than likely violate existing federal policy, given that the US TR Treasury Department has agreements with the states that spell out that the reimbursement process that the government must follow is to pay education disbursements within one day. The government is supposed to pay interest if it delays payments to a state or school district grant recipient. The summer school programs that your children may have attended could be in jeopardy. Some school programs are critical to students academic success. The programs give more instructional time for those students who need it. High quality summer learning programs are essential to students success. Even when federal emergency funds expire. District leaders and superintendents remain committed to sustaining and expanding those opportunities because they know the positive impact that they make on academic achievement and student engagement. 81% of superintendents said they plan to use money from district budgets to continue funding these expanded summer learning programs. Summer learning programs include those for remediation for students with disabilities as well as for all students who just want to get ahead and these programs also provide enrichment for high performing students. The percentage of district run summer programs might not fully capture all the summer enrichment programs that are available to children in many communities. In some communities, local nonprofit organizations and and for profit companies offer camps and other learning opportunities for students that don't necessarily follow district curriculum but feature hands on, fun and creative experiences for all types of students. Ideally, though, these organizations will have worked with the school district to incorporate at least some of its goals and areas of emphasis such as improving basic math and reading skills for young students. If the majority of superintendents fail strongly enough to continue summer programs without federal funding, this will be an important step forward because some programs have been shown to be effective tools to improve academic outcomes. One area that's not directly from the Department of education that impacts K12 public education students is the Institute of Museum and Library Services. An executive order was given to this agency to eliminate non statutory components and functions. The reduction of funding for this agency could jeopardize literacy development and reading programs, reliable Internet access for those without it at home, and homework help and other resources for students and educators. State libraries provide supplemental materials for smaller local libraries through their interlibrary loan system, which is an additional resource for K12 schools. At the local level, state libraries provide their community with resources like Internet access or meals during summer break. The largest portion of this agency's budget is its state grants program that has sent more than $160 million annually to all states in recent years to support general library services statewide as well as some education focused services such as library tutoring programs and professional development for teachers. The shortage of funding could have detrimental consequences for many students, including students of color and those in rural areas. For example, Maine, a mostly rural state, has received a total of about $51 million from the institute of Museum and Library Services. Of that funding, 61% has gone to Maine's state library, provided statewide services such as the creation of a database of articles, books, and other educational resources, and to assist smaller libraries by setting up library catalogs. Public libraries also provide apps that let library cardholders access library audiobooks, ebooks, and courses online, but this may all be in jeopardy because of the suspension of grant processing since the agency has shrunk and has lost some of its staff. The executive order could also affect the Institute of Museum and Library Services programmatic grants. For example, volunteers at the Philadelphia alliance to Restore School Librarians were recipients of the Laura Bush 21st Century Library program in 2024 and were awarded funds to carry out a project. They've been working with school districts in Philadelphia to bring back school library services to the students. Cutting funding for grants such as this would make a detrimental impact on bringing back school librarians and libraries to schools in the Philadelphia area. It seems to me that an outcome of these executive orders in the area of the Department of Education and ancillary departments is to make it difficult for diverse students to enrich their education. These students include students of color, English language learners, students with disabilities, and students from low income communities. These intentional acts are divisive, racist, and detrimental to Americans. What has been forgotten is that education is a vital national interest. The other thing about the potential closure of the Department of Education and remember that this cannot officially be done without congressional approval, is that the states are not ready to take over the many roles of education. They are used to one central agency providing funding, overseeing programs, etc. Will states be able to handle the deluge of tasks that are required to keep education at a high level of standards for each state. Only one state indicated that is ready to take on these tasks. What about the other 49 states? And what about the disparities in educational standards and progress within different states? Are the educational standards in Mississippi the same as they are in Massachusetts? What's the plan to recruit parents to be involved in education at the state level? How does this impact rural communities? There are a lot of serious implications here that have not really been thought through, and these could definitely have significant impacts on communities of color. And widening the inequities in education is just a start. I've highlighted some of the issues with the potential closing of the Department of Education. So what can you do about it? Here are the action steps you can take regarding this topic. If you're a parent whose child is not receiving special education accommodations, you're more than likely out of luck. You can file your application for these accommodations, but it's unknown as to whether someone on the customer service call will be able to assist you. Additionally, the Office for Civil Rights had regional offices that allowed attorneys to do on site investigations, including allowing attorneys to measure bathrooms and playgrounds for accessibility, check softball and baseball fields for equal athletic opportunity, visit the room where students may have reportedly been secluded, and they also see how students could have been restrained. All of these matters require in person investigation, but the office now lacks many of these regional locations and it basically means that parents and students are going to have to go without access to education. It also means that if you're a parent of a child with a disability, you'll have a hard time holding your child's school accountable for failing to provide legally mandated services. My advice to you is to stay plugged into your school district news so that you stay up to date about the potential changes that could be coming into effect starting in the 20252026 school year. The more you know, the better off you'll be to make informed decisions. Buckle up. Here are this episode's takeaways. The Department of Education was created by Congress in 1979 and it touches nearly every level of this nation's education system, from early education through higher education. It's the smallest cabinet agency by employee count and oversees a budget of approximately $80 billion. It distributes funding to schools with its two largest funding streams supporting low income students and students with disabilities, totaling roughly $34 billion. And as of 2024, it manages more than $1.6 trillion in federal student loans from 45 million borrowers. Beyond its financial responsibilities, the Department collects data, disseminates research, and investigates discrimination in schools and universities. Cuts to various sections in the Department of Education means that states will have to undertake many of these activities, including collecting statistical information about student progress and appropriate allocations for funding programs determined by whether the school district is in the city, suburb, town, or rural area. If funding for these different categories of school districts becomes competitive, the large metropolitan schools will have more capacity to to apply and leverage resources than rural school districts who may not have access to these resources. The summer school programs that your children may have attended could be in jeopardy. Summer school programs are critical to students academic success. The programs give more instructional time for students who need it. High quality summer learning programs are essential to student success. The good news is that even when federal emergency funds expire, district leaders and superintendents remain committed to sustaining and expanding those opportunities because they know the positive impact they make on academic achievement and student engagement. 81% of superintendents said they plan to use money from district budgets to contribute and continue funding these expanded summer learning programs. One area that's not directly from the Department of education that impacts K12 public education students is the Institute of Museum and Library Services. An executive order was given to this agency to eliminate non statutory components and functions. The reduction of funding for this agency could jeopardize literacy development and reading programs, reliable Internet access for those without it at home, and homework help and other resources for students and educators. State libraries provide supplemental materials for smaller local libraries through their interlibrary loan system, which is an additional resource for K12 schools at the local level. State libraries provide their community with resources like Internet access or meals during summer break. The largest portion of the Institute of Museum and Library Services is agency budget is its state grants program that is sent more than $160 million annually to all states in recent years to support general library services statewide. A loss of libraries could be devastating to many communities in this country. What are your thoughts about the potential closure of the Department of Education and how it could impact your children? Let me know what you're thinking by leaving me a text comment on my podcast website k12educationuntangled book. If you enjoyed this episode, why not listen to another episode from our library? It could take as little as 10 minutes of your day. And remember new episodes come out every Tuesday. Thanks for listening today. I hope you'll come back for more K12 educational discussions with these more exciting topics. Topics to untangle until next time, aim to learn something new every day.

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