Education officials and Democratic lawmakers expressed fear Thursday about the impact of President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at dismantling the U.S. Department of Education.
Education officials and Democratic lawmakers expressed fear Thursday about the impact of President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at dismantling the U.S. Department of Education.
Trump cannot abolish the department without a Congressional vote, but he signed an order Thursday to take the steps to shut the agency down.
“That will be disastrous, I think, because the Department of Education exists to make sure there’s equity across school districts,” said Sen. Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox (D-Trumbull).
Trump said the move will restore state control of education. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said a dismantling will have no impact on the funding or services the agency provides.
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Republicans in Connecticut said that could actually benefit schools in the state.
"I heard from the secretary saying no services would be cut and more money coming to the state,” said Rep. Lezlye Zupkus (R-Prospect). “If that’s the case, that’s a good thing.”
Zupkus, a ranking Republican on the legislature’s Education Committee, also said Democrats should wait to see the plan play out before jumping to conclusions.
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But critics have questions about how the Education Department or other federal agencies will perform those functions.
“What’s the plan?” asked Sen. Doug McCrory (D-Hartford), Education Commitee co-chair. “If that’s going to happen, where will those dollars go? Where will that manpower go?”
Connecticut State Colleges and Universities Chancellor Terrence Cheng questioned how the federal government will be able to process applications for student aid, Pell grants, and college loans.
“Ultimately, we think this is going to be real damage on students, it’s going to be damage on faculty, and it's going to be damage on the intellectual exchange on ideas,” he said.
Gadkar-Wilcox, who co-chairs a new Select Committee on Special Education, is worried about what will happen to aid and protections for special education students.
She also said the Trump administration could take a slower approach to fix concerns with the Education Department, giving local school districts more time to prepare.
“Give districts an opportunity to understand what’s coming down the pipeline instead of just making this in one big gesture and suddenly dismantling the department,” she said.
Zupkus, though, said lawmakers can address fears by adding federal protections into state law. She noted the Education Committe recently held a public hearing on a bill regarding indvidualized special education plans.
“Those are services that we don’t want to lose and that our students with disabilities need to continue to have,” she said.
Gov. Ned Lamont said the dismantling would leave a void at the national level.
He said the department should be leading the way on education, especially around how to use Artificial Intelligence. This includes setting boundaries and protections for the technology.
“I look around the world and see how other countries are prioritizing education and AI and making sure (there’s) limitations on social media and we’re walking away,” Lamont said.
Attorney General William Tong (D-Connecticut) made Connecticut among 20 states to file a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration’s plan to layoff half the dducation department’s staff.
Tong said at the time that the layoffs effectively dismantled the agency.
“This is a reckless assault on our kids and schools across America. On funding for special education. For teachers. For school buses. For college financial aid," Tong said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
