The Trump administration wants to eliminate the Department of Education, and some people are worried that could mean big cuts to schools in low-income areas, and programs for homeless students and children with disabilities.
One Sarasota County School Board member says Florida lawmakers have told him they want to maintain protections and funding for vulnerable students if the agency disappears.
"I am told that regardless of what happens, those protections and funds would remain intact," Tom Edwards said in an interview with WUSF.
"How they could get that to us would be in question, I was told. How they get (funds) to the school district and how we would be able to access them is what is currently being discussed," Edwards said.
A local nonprofit called Support Our Schools is urging people to attend the school board meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday and speak up if they are concerned that a loss of federal funding would hurt education.
"Already, staff and programs are being eliminated and Project 2025 has laid out a roadmap for eliminating or transferring most programs and functions to other federal agencies," the organization said in a statement.
Project 2025 is a policy initiative developed by the conservative Heritage Foundation to reshape the federal government. President Donald Trump has publicly distanced himself from the effort, although Project 2025 calls for eliminating the Education Department.
"Trump and his allies are all in agreement that any remaining federal funds will be sent to states in block grants (as opposed to dedicated funding), which will allow states to disperse funds as they like and will remove the federally enforced rights and protections that come with dedicated funding," Support Our Schools said.
The Department of Education, which was started in 1979 by the Carter administration, spends tens of billions a year on special education.
An online tool from the Education Law Center shows how much is at stake, state by state. It says Florida receives over $1 billion in federal funding for Title I schools, which receive federal funds to help students from low-income families, and more than $850 million for special education.
According to Support Our Schools, Sarasota County receives :
- $12.3 million per year for special education programming through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a federal law that guarantees such services to children with disabilities.
- $11.4 million per year for for Title 1 grants to schools with high percentages of low-income students.
- $2.5 million to improve student achievement through Title IV, which covers higher education institutions that participate in federal student aid programs.
- $1.5 million in “Teacher and Principal” funding to improve the effectiveness of teachers and principals and improve student achievement.
"Support Our Schools has calculated that if all $12.3 million of IDEA funding is eliminated in Sarasota schools, it could result in the layoff of as many as 170 special education teachers and support staff," the group said in an email, adding that such a move would "push special education back 50 years."
