After President Trump issued an executive order, half of the workers within the Department of Education were left without a job. With an uncertain future for schools across the country, there has been a spark of concern among staff and students at Central Kitsap High School.
When President Trump entered office, there were around 4,100 employees at the DE, though, as of 3/21, there’s around 2,000 remaining. This has caused many people to be concerned about the consequences of this action, such as Erin Prince, the superintendent of CKSD.
The employee’s cuts especially concern Prince because they’re directly involved with the money flow to CKSD.
“If they remove staff that understand the formula, [who] understand how those dollars need to flow to the districts, there could be a delay in getting those funds,” Prince said.
The federal funds that support school districts haven’t gone away, but if the people knowledgeable about how to distribute them to districts are gone, there could be a detrimental effect on CKSD’s budget in the next year. Districts all over America could be affected by this change, and Prince is concerned about the timeliness of the funds’ arrival.
“Impact Aid dollars help fund 7-10% of our full budget in Central Kitsap,” Prince said. “And if we have a delay of those funds, which is about $12-15 million — [it will make] it really hard for us to budget our school district for next year.”
According to Findlaw, President Trump cannot shut down the DE with an executive order. An approval by Congress is necessary to put a federal agency into closure. The White House promises that the DE can’t be completely removed; their idea is to relocate it to a different department, which would reroute Title 1 and other fundings to that department as well.
Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction oversees education in Washington state for students K-12. It’s responsible for supporting students throughout middle school and high school by providing resources, student discipline, and ensuring schools’ compliance with law regulations.
Public education and money flow are still governed by state law, special education laws will not be changed, and Washington state’s legislature has protections against discrimination towards minority students attending public schools. OSPI will continue to facilitate and support students in need throughout all the changes happening presently.
“While the words have unfortunately been weaponized, diversity, equity, and inclusion have long been core components of our educational system,” State Superintendent Chris Reykdal said in February 20 statement. “These principles are the reason we provide a high-quality public education to all young people from all backgrounds and walks of life.”
The Education Department is significantly valuable to students’ needs and education, promotes academic excellence, collects data beneficial towards enhancing equality, and identifies problems within teaching and learning procedures. Kallie Szczepanski noted that ordinary districts cannot offer the same resources as the DE.
“It’s a tough issue because ordinary school districts don’t have the resources or the ability to do their own research on that kind of a scale, like the Department of Education does, and we don’t have a way to collate test scores from across the whole country,” Szczepanski said.
Szczepanski explained that disparities in education access could widen if states took control of data collection and research, which would be less effective and accurate.
Superintendents across the board in Washington express that it’s important to remain calm amidst chaos at the federal level. High school students aren’t currently being significantly affected by the pending decisions, and the federal laws will be addressed accordingly. The focus of Washington state’s superintendent and districts is to maintain educational stability, according to Prince.
However, many students are watching the news and are worried about their future. The ED oversees student grants and loans for colleges. This doesn’t apply to all current high schoolers; however, it could potentially impact students who are planning to go to college and are now unsure of what resources they’ll be provided.
Millions of students can be affected by tax changes that make colleges more expensive, which is already a large issue for many college students. Loan forgiveness programs and eligibility requirements could change, depending on what happens in the future.
Lindsay Wright, a student at CKHS, stated that there are no positive attributes benefiting students’ learning after the Trump Administration’s attempts to defund the federal department. She, akin to many others, is worried about the future for herself and other students.
“There’s nothing to gain from removing the Department of Education,” Wright said. “Cutting resources and all that stuff is just bad.”
According to recent news, a federal judge blocked the Trump Administration’s order to remove the Department of Education on May 22. The judge also submitted an order to recall the department’s laid off workers.
