RCSD union leader weighs in on Trump’s plan to shut down U.S. Department of Education

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — After Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, all eyes have turned to his potential policies when he returns to the White House.

One item on the to-do list for the president-elect is to get rid of the U.S. Department of Education. The agency has been around for 45 years, has more than 4,000 employees, and has an 80 billion dollar budget. Trump says he wants states to have control of schools, a position that Rochester Teachers Association union president Adam Urbanski disagrees with.

“It would be heartless. It would be cruel and we would strongly oppose it,” Urbanski said.

Ubranski says doing away with the department would have a negative impact on students, especially kids in low-income backgrounds and with learning disabilities. Much of the money that comes to education programs helps them.

He wants to maintain federal protections for all students. The purpose of establishing the Department of Education during President Jimmy Carter’s tenure was to supplement education for the most needy students. To bring about gender equity, racial equity, and justice to help children with learning disabilities all of these things are funded by the Department of Education.

Kimberly DeRosa, the former Republican candidate for the New York State Assembly’s 135th District, says she agrees with Trump and is looking forward to the department being nixed.

“I think it will be a positive thing for our country because all it will mean is that we as Americans will save federal dollars. Our taxpayer dollars,” DeRosa said.

Trump’s plan also aims to restrict what kind of lessons can be taught in school. And while the president-elect pushed for this during his first term in office without success, DeRosa believes it will come to fruition this time.

“Parents can have more authority. I’m looking forward to school choice as a federal opportunity, as well so that parents can have more opportunity as well over the education the children receive,” DeRosa said.

The Department of Education provides funding for schools with a high population of low-income students and programs that support special education services.

For it to be abolished, a motion must pass through the House and the Senate. Republicans will now control the Senate, and as votes continue to be tallied, the House of Representatives is still up for grabs.

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