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The threatened dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education is now well underway. If not reversed, it will be catastrophic for schoolchildren in Pennsylvania and nationwide (not to mention endangering the viability of the federal student loan program).
No president can unilaterally eliminate the Department of Education. Only Congress can take this action. Mass layoffs are likely to be challenged in court, as they have been in other federal agencies. The White House is attempting to gut the department without congressional consent by eliminating half of its staff.
Gutting or eliminating the department will certainly mean fewer federal resources for our most underfunded schools and a lack of federal oversight. Federal education funding is targeted to students who are most marginalized, including 26 million students impacted by poverty and 7.4 million students with disabilities, as well as many thousands of students in rural schools, multilingual learners, students experiencing homelessness, and students in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. We must defend the $4.67 billion in critical public education funding provided to Pennsylvania students and schools.
Besides the funding it provides, the department has played a vital role in advancing educational equity in other ways: researching promising practices; ensuring effective implementation of federal education laws through oversight, monitoring, and guidance for states and school districts; and protecting students from discrimination through civil rights enforcement.
One of the department’s essential functions has been addressing inequities impacting Black and Brown students, students with disabilities, LGBTQ+ youth, and multilingual learners. Those commitments have been abandoned, and the U.S. Department of Education is instead now making false claims that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices are discriminatory, illegal, and rendered unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court — advancing inflammatory, offensive, and racist mischaracterizations of efforts to ensure equal access to education for our diverse student populations.
Without a functioning U.S. Department of Education, we are certain to see:
- Fewer qualified teachers in classrooms and elimination of tutoring programs and remedial services for students in Title I schools, which are found in urban, suburban, and rural communities;
- Reduced funding and elimination of oversight and enforcement of special education laws, leaving more students with disabilities struggling to learn and more families struggling to ensure compliance with their IEPs;
- Lack of school stability and uniforms for children who are experiencing homelessness;
- Lack of English language instruction for immigrant students;
- No redress for thousands of civil rights complaints, erasing key protections against discrimination based on race, color, national origin, language, sex, religion, and disability.
We look to Congress and the courts to reject the efforts to weaken or eliminate the Department of Education. We must instead demand a strong federal commitment to and investment in educational equity.
Join us to fight back against efforts to decimate the U.S. Department of Education.
Urge Congress to stop the abuse of executive authority, reject efforts to dismantle the Department of Education and cut funding, and instead restore the federal commitment to educational equity. Contact your representative and senators today.
Post stories and videos explaining why you oppose dismantling the Department of Education, using the hashtag #SpeakUpForED.
It is imperative that Pennsylvania’s governor and General Assembly ensure a quality education for all our students through equitable and adequate state funding and through effective enforcement of civil rights protections through the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and other state laws.
We urge you to join us in this important fight to ensure a quality education for all our students. Their future depends on how we respond today.
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