Effects Of Cuts To Department Of Education Ripples Through Nation

This summer, the federal government cut the Department of Education’s (ED) staff by 50%, the budget by 87%, and its various grants, according to Reuters. These cuts are part of the Trump Administration’s wider efforts to eliminate the ED, which has allegedly been “failing” students and families according to the executive order. and are impacting students nationwide.

Funding from the federal government and ED supports programs such as Title I, a program that is designed to help districts and schools with many low income families, including John F. Kennedy High School.

Dr. Ronaldo Fisher, principal of JFK, described how ED’s operations cuts affect Title I, “There were a lot of changes in terms of what we could offer and programs that we could provide through Title I,” explained Dr. Fisher. “In the past, the flexibility and use of those funds were very open and loose. Now, it's very tight and restrictive.”

Fisher further elaborated on the increased limitations of Title I funds due to these new restrictions: “In the past, through Title I, we could have provided funds for it [school sections], but now, what they did is they came in and said no more sections are going to be paid for through Title I and that we will have to take it out of our general allocation [budget], which is based on what the district provides to you on a year to year basis based on your enrollment numbers.”

Although the cuts do impact the school, California’s state education system protects schools from certain effects, as Aparna Badithe, government and economics teacher, pointed out.

“For the most part, I think that the cuts may take a little longer for them to affect public schools, depending on the state, and I think California is a little different because public schools are funded through something called the local control funding formula. Most of our funding comes from the state and from local taxes,” said Badithe.

However, Badithe added that federally funded programs would be drastically affected.

“There are things like FAFSA [financial aid] or special education funding that we rely on the federal government for, so I think those programs will see cuts,” she said.

Enna Penglin, biology teacher, foresees more effects of the budget cuts in classrooms.

“Kids will no longer have, especially in higher impacted classes, a lot of one on one support,” she explained. “We also have had bigger class sizes, like I have thirty-four kids in some of my classes. With students who need a lot of one-on-one support, I don’t know if I can give them that attention with a lot of students in the classroom.”

Penglin also expressed that teacher workloads will increase with class sizes.

“With [so many] students, you also have to think about how many of those kids know English really well or if they have certain education plans or need support,” stated Penglin. “Those are the things I need to think about to support my kids because I never want them to fail. So, of course, I go help them out, but it definitely adds to my workload with so many students.”

Fisher mentioned that students may see fewer options when choosing classes.

“Maybe instead of having, say, eight class options like in the past, maybe now you are reduced down to half that amount, or maybe even a third or a quarter,” Fisher remarked. “It depends on how we’re able to secure additional funds or secure additional allocations from the district.”

To adapt, the school is exploring more ways to collaborate with outside programs to retain course variety.

“Part of it is the discussion about incorporating more dual enrollment classes, incorporating and working with MVROP and having more classes offered through MVROP versus the school. We have specifically been working with the district in that regard,” explained Fisher.

While staff and teachers are trying to best utilize the resources and funding they currently have, if cuts to the ED and federal programs persist without alternative sources of funding, the school will begin to see more severe effects.

Penglin foresees potential future issues for both teachers and students: “School wise, I don’t think teacher retention would be great…I could see teachers moving to different schools so that they could have access to certain things. For students, I can see them struggling, maybe they’re not getting the care that they might need to help them become successful.”

Photo from Unsplash | Department of Education falters for every additional day.