Trump’s Education Budget

What’s the issue? Trump’s first education budget is expected to be released on Tuesday (May 23rd). Although the documents are not yet finalized, an Education Department Employee described them to the Washington Post. As described, the budget represents large cuts to the federal education budget, and a big push to advance school choice as the education priority for the administration.

Why do I care? If the released budget looks like the one leaked to the Washington Post, many valuable programs will be cut or substantially reduced. Here is a list of all of the K-12 education programs that would be eliminated in the budget. The biggest program to be eliminated would be 21st Century Community Learning Centers, an after-school program that targets children living in poverty. According to their most recent annual report, 1.4 million students participated in 21st Century Community Learning Centers during the school year, 84.5% of whom identified as Hispanic or Latino and almost half of whom demonstrated improvements in Math and English after their involvement in the program. Many programs on the list benefit students from low-income families or with special needs, including federal support for the Special Olympics (the world’s largest sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities, Special Olympics receives approximately 10% of their funding from the federal government), Arts in Education (a government program that provides high-quality arts education for students from low-income families and students with intellectual disabilities), and Childcare Access Means Parents in School (a program that provides childcare for low-income parents while they attend postsecondary school). Given Trump’s record so far, I am also personally disturbed by the cutting of the American History and Civics Academies, which trains teachers to better teach American History and Civics and also broadens high school students’ understanding of the subjects.

The cuts would also affect students who take out (or have taken out) loans to attend college and grad school. The budget eliminates Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which incentivizes students to take public and non-profit jobs by forgiving their loan payments after 10 years. It is unclear whether those already in the program would have their loans forgiven, or whether even those who complete their 10 years this October would be out of luck. Additionally the budget would reduce federal aid for college and grad school- slashing subsidized loans, Perkins loans, and work-study programs.

So what would the budget spend money on? The budget includes $400 million to expand charter schools as well as vouchers for private and religious schools. It also includes $1 billion that would be available to school districts that adopt school choice-friendly policies. This is a lot of money to push a system that studies show likely has very little effect (if any) on the academic performance of students who choose charter or voucher schools.

The good news is this is just the White House’s suggested budget. After the official White House budget is released, it must be debated and passed by Congress, where it could change substantially. So this is a great opportunity to have your voice heard if you’re not happy with the budget.

What to do if you care too:

1. Call your Congresspeople. This is a great time to share how you or your family will be personally affected by Trump’s education budget or how you are supported by the programs that face cuts.
2. Share your stories. Are you a beneficiary of a program that may be cut? Write a blog, use facebook and twitter to show your support, and talk to your friends and neighbors about why the program works for you.
3. Learn about charter schools and school choice. Here is an argument in favor and here is one against. Here is an article fact-checking commonly held beliefs about charter schools.
4. Donate to your local public school. Time, money, in-kind goods, whatever they may need. You can find your local public schools here.

 

Cover photo by dhendrix73 from Flickr.