Unlike President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, I’ve spent thousands of hours in public schools—as a student, mom, state legislator, and now as a senior member of the Education and Workforce Committee in the House of Representatives.
I’ve seen students full of confidence after they made a stop-motion film about cell division. I’ve watched young children struggle and then conquer the words in a book. In career and technical education classes I’ve seen students repair cars, build tiny houses, operate underwater robots, grow gardens, and make salsa. And I’ve seen the dedication of special education teachers as they work with students with disabilities and special learning needs, helping them succeed.
I went to Congress to improve public education, and I was part of the bipartisan team that passed the Every Student Succeeds Act, legislation that replaced No Child Left Behind to provide more flexibility to states and local school districts while improving student outcomes. In all my years as an education advocate, I never imagined that a president would actually try to shut down the Department of Education.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
An act of Congress created the Department of Education and only Congress has the constitutional power to dismantle it. Trump’s executive order represents an unprecedented and unconstitutional presidential overreach that, if left unchecked, will have dramatic and negative consequences on the structure of the American government and on democracy.
Some people are rejoicing at the idea of “returning power” to states and local communities. This ignores the reality that states and local school districts already have power over the core functions of education—including the schools they build, the teachers and staff they hire, and the curriculum they teach, just to name a few.
Trump and Musk also argue that declining test scores justify abolishing the department. But test scores don’t make the case for slashing federal investment in education; they show us where we need to direct resources and support to help students and their families. Students across the country are dealing with a host of issues, including social isolation, substance misuse, behavioral health needs, gun violence, device addiction, and increasingly toxic social media. We must address these issues if we want to improve test scores and uphold the full promise of a public education.
The Department of Education exists to close opportunity gaps. For example, the department provides funding to more than 51,000 public schools serving concentrated populations of students from low-income families through Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The department also administers grants under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and holds states and districts accountable for providing a free appropriate public education for students with disabilities. One mother in Oregon told me how worried she is about sending her two children with special needs to kindergarten next year. Without federal funding, she doesn’t know if her local elementary school can meet their needs.
When it comes to postsecondary education, the department disburses funds to help nearly 6,000 institutions of higher education across the country provide financial aid, including Pell Grants and Federal Work-Study for students from low-income families. The department also provides low-interest loans to help millions of students access a college education that otherwise would be out of reach. I would not be where I am today without the student aid I got to attend community college, college, and law school.
And importantly, Congress established the Department of Education to uphold and enforce the civil rights of students and to increase educational opportunity for every student in the country. The department’s Office of Civil Rights enforces federal laws prohibiting discrimination and harassment, investigating thousands of civil rights cases every year with an increasingly limited budget and now a severely limited staff after the Trump administration slashed half of the Department of Education’s employees.
The majority of Americans support the department and public schools. I lead House Resolution 94 with more than 80 of my colleagues to call on the administration to stop the assault on public education. Closing the Department of Education will harm students, families, communities, and the national economy. Trump and Musk are sending a message to the world that the United States does not value education by laying the groundwork to slash funding for schools across the country.
But they’re wrong. And they’re about to find out how motivated public school advocates can be.
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici represents northwest Oregon and is a leader on the Education and Workforce Committee and Ranking Member of the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee. Prior to being elected to Congress she spent hundreds of hours volunteering in public schools and served in the Oregon State Legislature, where she passed legislation to reduce duplicative testing.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
