Official White House photo of Donald Trump and pencils via Canva stock. (Photo illustration by Natasha Vicens/PublicSource)
Local education advocates and policy experts say the incoming president is unlikely to fulfill his pledge to demolish the Department of Education, but schools across the country could still be impacted.
“PublicSource is an independent nonprofit newsroom serving the Pittsburgh region. Sign up for our free newsletters.”
Among his many promises, President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, cut federal funding for any school “pushing” critical race theory, abolish teacher tenure and expand school choice.
As the nation is preparing for a new administration in January, education stakeholders around Pittsburgh are gearing up for big changes.
Anticipating funding and equity focus changes
Local education experts think axing the Department of Education is an unlikely scenario, yet they are still bracing for potential shifts.
The department oversees civil rights enforcement and provides monitoring and guidance for school districts.
And, though most funding for local public schools comes from state and local sources, the federal department is responsible for distributing Title I funds to states and school districts. The funding, which totaled $18.4 billion last year, is used to serve students with disabilities and students from low-income families.
Pittsburgh Public Schools [PPS] uses most of its Title I funding for serving students with disabilities but also allocates some for tutoring, literacy programs and family engagement. PPS received $14.8 million in Title I funds for the 2024-25 school year to improve academic achievement for disadvantaged students. It received another $1.9 million in a Title I grant to implement evidence-based improvement strategies in six Comprehensive Support and Intervention schools.
James Fogarty, executive director of nonprofit A+ Schools, said if those Title I funds are affected by the administration change, it could put even more pressure on districts including PPS that are under financial strain. This, coupled with the expiration of COVID-relief ESSER and American Rescue Plan funds that have buoyed distressed districts since 2020, could compound their challenges.
“It results in a loss of funding, a loss of students in public school systems and an undermining of those schools.”
Harold Jordan, nationwide education equity coordinator at the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] Pennsylvania, said while he does not think that the Department of Education will be eliminated, there might be attempts to radically shift the way it functions. The changes could mean an increase in privatization efforts such as school vouchers, promoting school choice and less enforcement of civil rights laws barring racial discrimination, he added.
Jordan said changes to Title I funding or student loans might not emerge immediately, but he anticipates disruptions to the department’s Office of Civil Rights, which could impact and undermine diversity initiatives.
“The Office of Civil Rights, instead of promoting equity and fair treatment of students, will be weaponized to cause harm, to come up with new interpretations of civil rights laws that are not consistent with what has been done in previous administrations and what the courts have upheld,” he predicted.
A push for school choice
Trump’s education proposals include calls for “universal school choice” emphasizing parents’ control over their children’s education.
Trump has also voiced support for privatization, such as voucher programs, where families can receive public funding to offset the costs of private education.
Sharon Sedlar, a Brentwood resident and founder of PA Families for Education Choice, voiced her support for school choice, saying privatization schemes such as tax credit programs or school vouchers are worth consideration.
“Having children in the best educational environment for them should be the focus. The way we go about it, and the words we use to accomplish that, is something to decide in the details down the road, but we always advocate for putting children, families and parents at the center of the conversation,” she said.
While some argue that school choice gives opportunities to students who otherwise could not afford elite education, such policies have been criticized for taking money from public school districts and allocating it to private schools.
Jordan said voucher programs negatively impact public school systems, with net results often being the closing of school buildings in some districts.
“It results in a loss of funding, a loss of students in public school systems and an undermining of those schools,” Jordan said.
Fogarty said students should be allowed to make their own school choice, be it a private, public, charter or magnet school. But, he added, governments should invest in existing public schools because investments in private schools do not lead to better outcomes.
Pennsylvania has two private school tuition tax credit programs — the Educational Improvement Tax Credit [EITC] and the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit [OSTC]. Sedlar said the programs do not take away from basic education funding because they are privately donated funds distributed by scholarship organizations.
Both programs have been called out for a lack of transparency and accountability by critics.
Some research suggests voucher programs could end up being disproportionately used by wealthy and white families. Jordan noted this could further impact students of color and students with disabilities because their families are not able to afford private education, leaving them in underfunded public schools.
Anxiety among immigrant student communities and their supporters
Many education advocates are concerned about the Trump administration’s impact on immigrant and refugee students in the region.
Trump has pledged to detain and deport about 11 million undocumented immigrants, using military and law enforcement.
Jenna Baron, executive director of ARYSE, an organization that provides out-of-school-time resources for refugee and immigrant youth, said she is worried about potential funding cuts under the incoming administration.
“If refugee resettlement is cut in the way that we anticipate it will be, it’s very sure that those funds that we get now won’t be there because they’re kind of set-aside grants specifically for refugee youth,” she said.
Baron also said she’s picked up on growing anxiety among immigrant youth who do not have enough information about immigration policies and Trump’s stances.
“I’m just thinking about how easy it would be to be confused about everything that’s being talked about, and not having the context, particularly the historical or cultural context,” said Baron.
Fogarty said he is worried that any potential changes to immigration enforcement could increase chronic absenteeism and reduce the trust in schools among students whose families are worried about deportation.
“Anything including the threat of deportation of a parent or the disruption of a family by having to have papers searched, anything that would diminish the ability or desire for a student to go to school is harmful,” he said.
Advocates prep for coming changes
Many local organizations are taking steps to protect students and families from negative impacts.
Some organizations like Red, Wine and Blue, a women-led national community organization, are urging people to be aware of local school board elections and educate themselves on issues like curriculum and funding.
At ACLU, Jordan and his colleagues have started looking into legal avenues to protect kids and have plans to partner with community organizations in light of any policy changes.
Angel Gober, director of local advocacy group 412 Justice, said the organization will continue pushing for moratoriums on school privatization and charter school expansions, and will advocate for increases in resources at the state and federal levels.
“We believe that those issues are critical if we’re thinking about the future of public education, and if folks are not on the same page of maintaining and preserving and sustaining public education, then the future is looking pretty bleak,” she said.
Against the concerns, Hetal Dhagat from the Education Law Center emphasized in an email statement that no policy changes have taken place yet.
“Keep in mind that no federal civil rights laws and regulations have been changed,” Dhagat wrote, “and Pennsylvania has robust laws providing many of the same protections against discrimination as the federal laws and programs that are under threat. And Commonwealth Court has ruled that education is a fundamental right in Pennsylvania.”
Lajja Mistry is the K-12 education reporter at PublicSource. She can be reached at [email protected].
This story was fact-checked by Jamie Wiggan.
This article first appeared on PublicSource and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
About Post Author
