Connecticut Democrats are scrambling to stop President Donald Trump from dismantling the Department of Education.
On March 20, Trump signed an executive order instructing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education” (DOE). The next day, 15 Democrats in the federal House of Representatives, including Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Waterbury, Danbury, New Britian) raised an inquiry request in the House of Representatives.
The request asked President Trump to have Education Secretary Linda McMahon send every document, legal opinions, memoranda, notes from meetings, recordings, and communications related to the closure of the DOE to the House of Representatives.
In theory, this should stall Trump’s efforts to close the DOE, according to Hayes.
“For all of the people who are talking about it is not the responsibility of government to educate our children and there are different ways to do this, they don’t understand what happens to kids who don’t have the opportunities that are available to them in public schools,” Hayes said a news brief in the Capitol on Monday, March 24.
In the Executive Order, Trump referenced the cost of COVID policies and salaries for federal employees as examples of wasteful money. He also criticized the DOE for the declining rates of literacy and math comprehension in the country. Trump acknowledged in the executive order that “the Department of Education does not educate anyone” and pointed to “education bureaucracy” as a reason for his decision. The DOE was founded in 1979 and each state determines what its curriculum will be, how it will be taught and how teachers in that state are trained.
“We know, as you stand here, the states already run American public education,” Blumenthal said. “What these federal programs do is provide places like Waterbury, Danbury, New Haven, Hartford, all the communities in Connecticut, billions of dollars, including rural communities, with what they need to provide that additional support.”
Blumenthal promised that the Democrats in the Senate would vote against closing the DOE.
Connecticut receives around $550 million of taxpayer money through the DOE each year, according to the School and State Finance Project. This makes up over 7% of school funding in the state. Almost one-quarter goes to Individuals with Disabilities Education (IDEA).
In Waterbury, around $20 million—more than one-fifth of the district’s budget—came through the DOE, according to Gov. Ned Lamont, who spoke at the news briefing.
This money is for more than just K-12 education.
Across the state, there are 60,000 students who receive Pell Grants, according to Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz.
The Department of Education also sends six million dollars for the Birth to Three program, which provides support for children with special needs in Connecticut during their first three years of life. Right now, more than 7,000 kids are enrolled in the program, according to the Commissioner for the Office of Early Childhood, Beth Bye.
“The fact that we’re standing here today, talking about dismantling the agency that supports our state in overseeing that, is madness,” Bye said at the news brief. “Our families need predictability and reliability. Our state needs predictability and reliability.”
The Executive Order did not explicitly call for funding cuts to schools, but Democrat lawmakers at the news brief said that such a thing was inevitable.
“The things that are mandated by law will remain in law and districts will have to decide how they meet those legal obligations,” Hayes said. “Will they cut other services, or will they raise taxes? And without the enforcement mechanisms that the Department of Education provides, our children are at risk. The implications of this are astronomical.”
Hayes’s district receives $70 million from the federal government, and 53% of the students who go to college are on Pell Grants, she said.
“As a teacher, I could never walk into an IEP meeting and say don’t worry about it, special education students will be taken care of,” Hayes said. “The law requires more of me, and you should require more from the president of the United States.”
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