Elected officials and advocates are decrying ongoing cuts and funding freezes at the U.S. Department of Education, which they say are harming students educationally and families economically.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has made dismantling the Education Department a major priority. While he is constitutionally unable to eliminate the federal agency, which is led by Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Trump has sought to handicap the department through mass layoffs and spending cuts, including funding already approved by Congress.
Critics of the Trump administration have particularly raised alarm about funding freezes to federal grants provided to states to fund educational services.
“That’s money for teacher support, after-school programs, summer learning, and the kinds of wraparound services our students rely on to thrive,” said Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who also serves as a vice chair for the Democratic National Committee.
Kenyatta said Black and brown students, who live in “under-resourced districts,” will be “hit the hardest” by Trump’s cuts to the Education Department. He noted that those students depend on Title I to “even begin leveling the playing field.”
“What the Trump administration is doing to the Department of Education is not about policy. It’s about power. And it’s coming at the direct expense of America’s kids,” said the Democrat.
In Georgia, state lawmakers rallied at the state capital, demanding that Gov. Brian Kemp and the Trump administration release the frozen funds relied on by communities in need.
State Sen. Rashaun Kemp, a Democrat, called the funding freeze “reckless and callous” and urged the governor to call a special legislative session to provide more state funding for providers, reports Atlanta’s WABE.
“This is not just an education issue. It’s an economic issue as well,” said Sen. Kemp. “We need to ensure our parents can get to work, and in order to do that, they need after-school programming and summer school programming to support them in being able to do that.”
The Trump administration announced earlier this month that it was freezing the 21st Century Community Learning Centers federal grant—a total of nearly $7 billion—to conduct a review and determine whether the funding is being used to promote “left-wing” ideology in schools. The move was an abrupt decision that left school systems and families scrambling.
The move by Trump’s DOE follows threats to withhold federal funding from school districts that instruct students on diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, which the Trump administration has repeatedly called “illegal” and discriminatory to white students.
As a result of the Trump administration’s latest funding freeze, Kenyatta, who represents majority-Black Philadelphia, said schools across his state are “forced to wait on more than $230 million in federal education funds that were already approved by Congress.”
“As the appointed chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans in the last administration, I’ve seen what real investment in education can do. I’ve also seen what happens when politicians treat our schools like political bargaining chips,” said Kenyatta.
He added, “This is not some budget fight. This is a coordinated effort to kneecap public education and silence the voices of working families.”
Senator Kemp of Georgia pushed back against the Trump White House’s assertion that the federal grants were being used to advance a left-wing agenda.
“There is nothing radical about ensuring our kids can read, count, and grow into productive citizens,” said Kemp. “Our school districts aren’t pushing ideology. They’re focused on education and student success. This kind of political theater may play well in D.C., but it’s wreaking havoc and concern here in Georgia.”
Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave Trump the green light to move forward with the layoff of 1,400 employees, Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, slammed the administration for its “destructive” and “illegal” actions.
“[It] will hurt all students by sending class sizes soaring, cutting job training and career and technical education programs, making higher education further out of reach, taking away special education services for students with disabilities, and gutting student civil rights protections,” said Pringle.
“Parents, educators, and community leaders won’t be silent as Trump and his allies take a wrecking ball to public schools and the futures of the 50 million students in rural, suburban, and urban communities across America,” she added. “We will continue to organize, advocate, and mobilize until all students have the opportunity to attend the well-resourced public schools where they can thrive.”
