Educational experts in Florida are responding to the layoffs of nearly half of the U.S. Department of Education’s workforce, warning these cuts will hurt kids in the state.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon confirmed that the layoffs are the first step in shutting down the department.
She told Fox News, “His [Trump’s] directive to me, clearly, is to shut down the Department of Education, which we know we’ll have to work with Congress, you know, to get that accomplished.”
Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar said these changes could hurt students with disabilities the most, as the federal government protects their educational rights through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Under that law, students with disabilities are required by law to receive a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment.
That law also guarantees that students who qualify for special education receive an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, that governs the supports and services they will receive.
Spar said he, like many other students in public schools, relied on his IEP, and the accommodations it granted him, to get through school.
“As someone whose dyslexic myself, I had an individual education plan in school that helped me be successful in school and in life, and that individualized education plan, IEP, is governed by federal law, and it is the U.S. Department of Education that is responsible for executing that law. And we have literally millions of students across this nation and hundreds of thousands of students in Florida who are on an IEP, ” Spar said.
Before these federal protections, it was common for students with disabilities to be taught in separate schools, sequestered in separate classrooms throughout the day, or denied education completely.
Spar also said students who go to schools in low socioeconomic areas stand to lose programs that the federal government provided to support their academic outcomes.
“There's programs for those students, for tutoring, for after-school care, before-school care and enrichment programs, programs that give students access to music and arts and sports, and so those are the kinds of programs that are governed under the U.S. Department of Education,” Spar said.
Spar said the hardest thing about the current climate is that there’s so much uncertainty it’s impossible for local schools, teachers, and parents to plan ahead.
He said anything that takes away resources from schools, won’t just hurt current students, but future generations of adults, and our state’s economy, which relies on an educated workforce.
“Our own governor, who I don't always agree with, said when we were coming out of COVID, we've got to get schools open in order to get the economy back on track. That's how important public schools are,” Spar said. “And so when you talk about eliminating programs or potentially impacting programs by these cuts in our local school community, it ultimately is going to impact everyone.”
Experts say Trump’s plan to dismantle education will put more of the responsibility of leading public schools on each individual state. And in Florida, much of the federal funding it receives could be funneled into the universal voucher program to pay for waivers.
In a statement, the U.S. Department of Education says student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special education, and several grant programs will not be impacted by the cuts.
The DeSantis administration and Florida Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
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