The new U.S. Secretary of Education, who’s also a Connecticut resident, Linda McMahon, sent a letter this week to Department of Ed staff entitled, “Our Final Mission,” signaling she is intending to fulfill President Trump’s promise to shut down the federal Department of Education.
The new U.S. Secretary of Education, who's also a Connecticut resident, Linda McMahon, sent a letter this week to Department of Ed staff entitled, "Our Final Mission," signaling she is intending to fulfill President Trump's promise to shut down the federal Department of Education.
So what does that mean for the $1 billion Connecticut gets from the feds?
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WATCH HERECongresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-3rd District), a ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, gives her take on the issue.
Mike Hydeck: Welcome, Congresswoman. Linda McMahon says she is removing red tape and making parents the primary decision makers in their kids' education. Are those bad goals?
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SIGN UP Rosa DeLauro: Listen, let me just say that this is, it's really quite extraordinary that you know, what is education about? Education powers the American dream. It's like, you know, meeting my mother every day after school in the old sweatshops in the city of New Haven, and going there with dark and dirty, and women with hunched backs over their sewing machines, pumping dresses out. And my mother would say to me, 'Look at this. Get an education so you don't have to do this.' It's the American Dream. It's what parents realize for their kids. And 90% of our kids are in public education. And Linda McMahon, and Donald Trump, and Elon Musk, you know, their kids will be all right. What about our kids? What about the bulk of the children in the United States who rely on public education? And public education is where they want to go. They want to dismantle that. It's really pretty extraordinary, the gall. And you know, Elon Musk and Trump talk about this, but I was really quite surprised that the person who was head of the Department of Education had took the job so she could dismantle the Department of Education. Let me, well, I'll let you ask.
Mike Hydeck: I want to say, can we talk about the logistics here? First of all, Congress is supposed to have the power of the purse, right? So is this even legal? You're on Appropriations. How do you proceed from here?
Rosa DeLauro: It's lawless. This is illegal. The Constitution gives us the power of the purse and whatever they're doing is illegal, and that needs to get challenged. In the meantime, we have to let people understand what is going on. What are the human consequences of what they want to do? It's overall, let me just tell you about what could happen here. You're going to reduce services for young children, access to early childhood education for 300 children in Connecticut through cuts to Head Start, kick teachers out of classrooms because they want to cut Title I. Under the bill, a severe nationwide teacher shortage at this time, 1,900 teachers could be removed from the classrooms that serve our kids in Connecticut. They will eliminate services for English learners. You know, the president, I think, just said that English is the the national language, and thereby, let's eliminate, and again, in our state, federal support for vital academic services for almost 46,000 English learners in Connecticut. He's going to eliminate the English language acquisition program. You know, they're talking out of both sides of their mouth, and quite frankly, I don't believe they know what they are doing.
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Mike Hydeck: Can I ask you another question? I wanted to jump in here. So in addition to the $1 billion we get from the federal government, we get about $2,000 or a little more than $2,000 per student. If they claim all of these by cutting the department, we're going to save all this money. And this is a bit tongue in cheek, that means we should get more money, right? If they save all this money on one side, states should get more money.
Rosa DeLauro: No, let me tell you what they want to do with this money, why they're dealing with the cuts. That way they can go for the tax cuts, the tax breaks for the billionaires like Elon Musk, that's where they're going. That's, wherever they're cutting is they're going to come out. And they came out with a tax package that talks about a $4.5 trillion tab for the tax cuts for the wealthiest and the biggest corporations. It is really outrageous. At the expense of our kids and their future. It's about youngsters being able to realize their dreams and their aspirations. And that's what education is about. It's an opportunity for the future, and they are pulling the rug out from under our children.
Mike Hydeck: So last question. I only have about a minute. What happens from here? You're on Appropriations. Is there going to be legal action? Will there be demonstrations? Where does this go?
Rosa DeLauro: Well, we can't, because we're in the minority, in the House of Representatives, we can't bring a suit. But we are working with those organizations that are bringing suit and providing them with information. Will be filing amicus briefs. But most of all, the information has got to get out to parents about what is about to befall their students. The public has to understand the human consequences of where they want to go and what kind of really barriers they're going to put up for their kids' future employment opportunities, what they're going to do with financial aid and not providing that, and what they want to do, they want to dismantle public education in the United States. That is not a goal. It doesn't square with the values of this country. Certainly doesn't square with what my mother said to me, 'get an education so that you don't have to do this.' And because of her words, because of that opportunity to get an education, I'm the daughter of an immigrant family who could only dare dream that their daughter serves in the United States House of Representatives. Our kids deserve to have the opportunities. Linda McMahon has a lot of money. She has opportunities for her family. Elon Musk, he doesn't have to worry about what happens to his kids, nor does the president of the United States. The rest of us have to be concerned about what happens to our kids.
