TULSA, Okla. — President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 20 to begin the dismantling of the Department of Education.
The DOE was created in 1979, and among its purposes is sending funding to schools with higher rates of impoverished children and assisting programs for students with disabilities.
Trump said he wants to dismantle the agency and give control to the states to allow them to administer education policy.
The President said this is to turn education over to the families instead of bureaucracies.
However, some local state reps like John Waldron feel this robs Oklahoma students of critical funding.
Waldron is a former teacher who taught at Booker T. Washington for 20 years.
“Federal funding is an important chunk of our education budget and in particular, it affects students on Individual Education Plans or students with special education needs. There’s also federal dollars that go through the Department of Agriculture that pay for school lunches and Oklahoma as a relatively poorer state depends more heavily on federal programs than the state average,” said Waldron.
The President of the Tulsa Classroom Teacher’s Association, Shawna Mott-Wright, is also concerned about the potential impact dismantling the department would have.
“While they’ve already cut career staff, the president’s EO is not enough. It will actually take a literal act of Congress to do this. Returning education to the states is a great soundbite, but in reality, it hurts our most vulnerable children. We receive tons of federal monies to feed our children. We receive federal dollars and grants that fund programs and positions that directly serve our children. You think we have a teacher shortage now? Several teaching positions are paid for by Title dollars – that is federal money that will disappear if the DOE closes. Over 90% of American children attend public schools. They are our future workforce. For our government to be run by a majority of conservatives who claim to be experts in commerce, shuttering the DOE will wreck our workforce and the economy.“
Governor Stitt spoke with Newsmax, saying that our public schools are failing, and he applauds President Trump for getting rid of bureaucracy in DC.
The Governor's office sent 2 News this statement:
"President Trump has delivered a major turning point for education in America— and it’s a win for parents, students, and the states. The Department of Education has pushed radical agendas, top-down mandates, and trapped students in failing schools. Now, states have more freedom to build a system that reflects our values, families will have more options, and students will have more opportunities to succeed."
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