The president of the National Education Association (NEA) claimed Monday that plans to shut down the Department of Education would take “billions of dollars” from students.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to start shutting down the agency she heads Thursday, fulfilling a campaign promise, while announcing Friday that student loans would be handled by the Small Business Administration (SBA). NEA President Becky Pringle claimed the closure of the department would increase “inequities” in education during an appearance on “CNN News Central.”
WATCH:
“Let’s be clear, every level of government has a role to play in making sure that every single one of our students gets what they need and what they deserve. The federal government’s role in the establishment of the Department of Education was after the Civil Rights Act, where we knew that there were inequities that existed in every social system in this country,” Pringle told co-host Sara Sidner. “And the federal government’s role was to try to close those gaps so that our students with disabilities could get the education they deserve. Our students from low-income families could get the extra resources that we know they needed.”
“It is not OK that this administration is stealing billions of dollars from our students to give billionaires tax breaks. We know that’s exactly what they plan to do,” Pringle continued. “We know that students have already been harmed and hurt, and our families are reeling from the impact of taking away the role of the federal government. And let’s be clear, we’re not only talking about funding, we’re talking about making sure that any complaints that come in from our schools through the Office of Civil Rights, which has been gutted, that they are investigated. That’s why the NAACP has joined in this lawsuit. So we have a lot of work to do, and we are ready to do it.”
The Department of Education announced March 13 it had reduced its workforce by almost 50% between voluntary buyouts and layoffs. Trump has also argued that the Department of Education has failed, saying he wanted to move education “back to the states” during a Feb. 26 Cabinet meeting.
According to the Nation’s Report Card’s 2024 data, student test scores still remain below pre-pandemic levels nationwide. As student scores continued to plunge, national teachers unions frequently promoted left-wing causes such as critical race theory, gun control and gender ideology.
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