Illinois schools could be affected by weakening Dept. of Education

The Trump administration is reportedly drafting an Executive Order aimed at dismantling some or all of the U.S. Department of Education, and although Presidents cannot eliminate a federal agency created by Congress (like the DoEd, in 1979), Trump could try to cut its budget or staff.

So despite most funding for public education from pre-school through higher education coming from local taxes and state fundings, there are concerns.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker last month called federal assistance vital to families.

“If they take that away, that’s going to be highly detrimental to the people of our state,” he said. “So, I’m going to do everything I can to preserve that funding. I hope that that does not end up being a target of their attacks.”

The Department of Education has about 4,000 employees operating a $79 billion budget, helping students with special needs and children from low-income households, plus managing federal student loans and collecting and distributing research on learning, teaching testing and more.

Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect says targeting researching and reporting in the name of efficiency could be government removing pesky facts it would rather not disclose, from inflation and climate change to workplace safety and public schools’ “best practices.”

Silencing education could be disastrous.

“As a percentage of the current yearly federal budget of $6.8 trillion, axing those particularly targeted employees would reduce federal spending by roughly zilch,” he writes. “But if the ‘counting’ agencies are among those targeted for decimation, that ‘zilch’ can be promoted as constituting gazillions.”

Targeting DoEd is unpopular, too.

“Only 29% of Americans support abolishing the Education Department,” notes Urban League President Mark H. Morial. “In fact, nearly 70% of voters want to see education funding increased.”