President Trump’s Executive Order on Department of Education

“Across Ohio – in rural, suburban, and urban communities alike – our students depend on the critical programs and services provided through the US Department of Education. More than half of Ohio’s public school students benefit from federal Title I programs that help economically disadvantaged learners reach their full potential; more than a quarter-million Ohio students with disabilities rely on services that are possible because of federal IDEA funding; countless Ohioans rely on federal aid to make college affordable through grants and loans; countless others benefit from the many programs the US Department of Education administers every day.

 

But, make no mistake, every single student in Ohio will pay the price for the move to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

 

The Trump Administration’s continued actions to stifle the work of the Department of Education – whether through this latest Executive Order or the massive job cuts announced last week, which immediately put students’ civil rights investigations and cases in limbo, among other impacts – undermine the goal of “ensuring equal access to educational opportunity for every individual,” the mission Congress gave the US Department of Education when they wrote and passed the law creating it 45 years ago.

 

Although it would take an act of Congress to entirely shutter the Department of Education now, any measures to stop the vital work of Department employees to serve Ohio’s students or to reduce federal education funding – or oversight of that funding by creating unaccountable block grants for state legislatures to spend at their whims – will cause terrible harm to our students, our state, and our future.

This Executive Order only strengthens Ohio educators’ steadfast commitment to advocate tirelessly for the learning conditions and supports our students need to thrive in the world-class public schools they deserve in our state.”