How the Dismantling of the Department of Education will affect California Schools
Trump aims to dismantle the federal Department of Education, risking funding and resources in California.
Trump’s Decision
As a part of President Donald Trump’s campaign, he promised the people that he would shrink the U.S. federal government. In a Times interview with President Trump, he describes the federal government as full with “people that are unnecessary to do” and “bloated”. In terms of education, he wishes to give the power of education to the state rather than the federal government’s control.
He works alongside the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, Linda McMahon, to achieve this goal. One way is by dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, a federal agency that develops and enforces education laws, manages federal financial aid programs, supports state and local education systems, and provides grants and loans for students who desire higher education–just to name a few. Its true goal is to give equal access to education and promote educational excellence, as seen on their official website.
The U.S. Department of Education greatly impacts California schools, especially by federally funding our schools. According to the Mercury News, in 2024, “California received $8 billion in federal funding for K-12 education and about $7 billion in federal funding for higher education”. This included funding programs such as special needs and financial aid for low-income students in higher education.
Its Effects and Its Continuities In California
The Ed. Department does quite a lot. According to the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Summary, “Overall, the fiscal year 2025 Budget requests $82.4 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Education”. Billions of dollars is being poured into this foundation and a major chunk of that is being put into the Federal Student Aid and special education programs for disadvantaged students. As noted before, in 2024, around $15 billion dollars was given to California alone.
The department of education’s main role in California is funding. They do investigate discrimination complaints, so if the department were to be abolished, the complaints would likely go into the Department of Justice, making it more difficult for families to address complaints.
However, Californians may be at the least risk of a fiasco if the Department of Education is dismantled because we have our own California Department of Education (CDE). The CDE supports public schools across California, enforces education laws and regulations, and funds school programs and resources. Even if the federal Ed. Department is dismantled, California will continue to have the CDE and further support for public school and higher education funding. However, it is important to realize that federal funding will go down, meaning programs such as special needs and student financial aid will be at risk.
Effects On Students
As mentioned, dismantling the Department of Education would bring risk of taking away special education services of students with disabilities, make it harder to report discrimination complaints on families, as a whole gutting student civils rights, and take resources away from students that need it. However, in California, we do have the CDE that will support K-12 education. It comes to a matter of students (particularly low-income) that will pursue higher education as billions of dollars will be retracted from that funding.
Remember, as students, education is the most important tool that we have access to right now, in times like these. Fight for your education and make sure others, especially the underprivileged are able to do so as well. This agenda may seem political, but it affects you too.
