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Dismantling Education: Trump’s latest target

The Department of Education has come to a close, thanks to United States President Donald Trump and his nonsensical executive orders.

On March 12, the Trump administration announced it’s cutting nearly half of the staff at the DOE, according to George Martínez, a co-host for the National Public Radio podcast “Up First.” After the announcement, many employees received emails saying they were going to lose their jobs.

My first reaction was, “WHAT?” Without an education system, how will I be able to receive money from Free Application for Student Aid so I can stay in college? I know Trump doesn’t like education, which makes me wonder why he allowed Barron Trump to attend New York University. I have so many questions.

Apparently, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said those cuts were meant to reflect the department’s “commitment to efficiency, accountability and ensuring that resources are directed to where it matters most,” according to NPR’s Education Reporter Janaki Mehta.

Umm, Linda? You’re taking away the resources we need, so this “reflection” doesn’t make any sense.

The number of employees fired is outrageously high, according to Mehta. Hundreds from the Student Aid Office, nearly 250 from the Office of Civil Rights and over 100 from the Institute of Education Sciences were fired.

That’s another big blow because the institute had federal cuts a few weeks prior. I don’t want to be ageist or anything, but does Trump know what he’s doing? You could make a case for Joe Biden being old, but his cabinet was made up of people who had credentials and were politicians. Trump? He just found a group of Fox News workers who wanted to be best buddies with the president.

Back to the DOE ending, not only are people concerned about how fired workers will pay their bills, but the impact this will have for the American public who have children with special needs, according to a sound bite from Shara Smith, an attorney at the DOE’s Office for Civil Rights and president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, a union that represents department employees.

Additionally, there are some education department offices protected by law, like IES, according to Mehta. However, they received a termination email, so now that’s abolished. It’s up to Congress to decide whether this is clear or not.

“We’re going to be returning education very simply back to the states where it belongs,” Trump said in a sound bite from the March 21 “Up First” episode.

This was when Trump was in the process of shutting down the DOE, according to the episode. In the sound bite, Trump claimed that returning education to the states where it belongs is popular and common sense.

Okay, now I might scream into my pillow or throw my stress ball because I don’t know what to do. Oh wait, I forgot; I can keep writing, so back to informing the public.

The administration promised that certain federal education grants, including for low income and rural schools, would be preserved, according to Leila Fadel, a co-host for “Up First.” However, the workers who are in charge of the money will be gone.

Eliminating the DOE requires an act of Congress, according to Mehta. Another department that was in jeopardy is the National Center for Education Statistics. They are the central source of data about education in the United States. Without the department, formula grants made for schools will be really hard to get.

The money from the grants are flexible, according to Mehta. Once states and districts receive the money, they can pay school staff salaries, along with covering transportation costs and technology. There are only three employees left at the NCES who are working on the 2026-27 school year, according to Mehta. While it’s harder for schools to get the money, the workers said they were confident districts will receive it.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Census Bureau is shrinking, so distribution of Title I funding for schools is going to be complicated, according to Mehta.

For student loans, Trump said they would be moved to the Small Business Administration “immediately,” according to BBC News.

This raises another question: how will the Small Business Administration handle this? This man really hates education but loves to blab his mouth with gibberish. Whoever is the next president, all I ask is to bring our education system back, please.

The post Dismantling Education: Trump’s latest target first appeared on The Good 5¢ Cigar.

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