CBS 17 by Brea Hollingsworth

As the Trump Administration plans to cut half the staff at the U.S. Department of Education, state and local leaders are discussing what kind of effect it will have on local school districts.

Democratic Congresswoman Deborah Ross, Wake County Board of Education Chairman Chris Heagarty and others toured Hodge Road Magnet Elementary Tuesday. 

The school receives federal funds from the agency for Title I programs. It’s money Ross says is helping fund programs like Spanish language and special education.

“Kids who have these special needs in particular need that federal funding and that’s about 10% of the budget,” said Rep. Ross 

All this comes as the Trump Administration announced plans to lay off over 1,300 employees, cutting half its staff.

Ross and others say eliminating the agency would starve North Carolina schools of millions of dollars in federal funding and in turn impact low-income students and students with disabilities.

“All of these programs were made possible in Wake County by support from our federal government and to say, for example, that we can just cut these programs and eliminate the department of education, the states can take care of that, we don’t get enough money from the state to fund these programs,” said Heagarty. 

President Trump has previously said the cuts are part of a larger plan to shut down the agency and give more control to the states, something Rep. Ross doesn’t agree with.

“I’m very suspicious of giving the money to the states because the state of North Carolina, the legislature, has just decided to give a whole bunch of money for private school vouchers that now go to affluent families, so I don’t necessarily want to take federal money that goes directly to schools and give it to the North Carolina General Assembly right now. I don’t trust them,” said Rep. Ross.

She also held a private roundtable with teachers and staff to hear their concerns.

Wake GOP Chairwoman Sandy Joiner told CBS 17 in a statement:

“How funds will be distributed to the states from the Department of Education is still being determined, but if Congresswoman Ross and the leftists on the Wake County School board are truly concerned about federal funding they would support funneling the millions spent on DEI and use it to help raise our failing test scores and special needs programs. Instead, they are choosing not to comply with President Trump’s Executive order putting federal funding at risk. With Wake County it’s never a funding problem, it’s a spending problem.”

Fully closing the U.S. Department of Education would likely require an act of Congress.

Link to full article: https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/wake-county-news/congresswoman-ross-wake-county-school-officials-discuss-department-of-education-cuts/