Tag Archives: Trump and Education

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Is It Really Bad?

Yes!

It is, in fact, bad.

All of it, when it comes to Team Trump, Elon, and the oligarchs.

But also: The Department of Education stuff.

I mean, Joe Biden appointed a former classroom teacher to head the Ed Department.

Trump is suggesting a pro wrestling executive.

But, what does it all mean? What will happen if the Department of Education is disbanded or broken down to a much smaller entity?

Well:

Roughly 7.5 million students, or 15 percent of the student population, receive special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which provides $15 billion to support students with disabilities. This program could be transferred to another agency, making it significantly less likely that students with disabilities receive the services and support they need and deserve.

And that’s just one example.

Funding, support, and resources will be lost – and protections for vulnerable student populations will be uneven at best.

Meanwhile, Elon and the Oligarchs will pillage the department to boost their own bottom lines.

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

Arizona Plans to Scale Back Runaway Voucher Scheme

TN’s School Funding Failures

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Family Dollar Pays $41 Million to Settle Rodent Case

Big Businesses Exploit TN Corporate Tax Loopholes

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Trumping the Department of Education

Elon and the Oligarchs seek takedown of U.S. Ed Dept.

Well, it seems Elon and his merry band of oligarch enablers are raiding the Department of Education.

A recent story in the Wall Street Journal details the Administration’s current thinking on the subject:

Trump administration officials are weighing executive actions to dismantle the Education Department as part of the campaign by billionaire Elon Musk and his allies to shrink federal agencies and slash the size of the government workforce.

Not great. Couple this with Tennessee’s recent passage of Bill Lee’s school voucher scam and you have wholesale destruction of education as we know it.

You know what TN hasn’t known when it comes to education? You know what kind of disruption we haven’t experienced?

Generous funding, support, and resources for all schools, students, and teachers.

Now, it seems at both the federal and state levels, the funding model will shift – leaving public schools grasping for crumbs while private operators profit.

Gross.

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

In Kentucky, a Demand for School Funding

A School Without Teachers

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State Revenue Shortfall Follows Corporate Tax Breaks

TN SNAP Failures

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Rejecting Trump

Teachers offer strong resistance to Trump education agenda

Response to Donald Trump’s nomination of Linda McMahon to lead the Department of Education has been swift. And mixed. Why there isn’t more fierce resistance is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps education groups are afraid of her powerful wrestling moves (she was once CEO of WWE). Or, maybe some groups want to still be in line to receive DOE grants.

In any case, the National Education Association was clear in their opposition to McMahon and to their plans for open resistance:

“Parents and educators will stand together to support students and reject the harmful, outlandish, and insulting policies being pushed by the Trump administration. They will make their voices heard, just as they did by resoundingly defeating vouchers in states like Colorado, Kentucky, and Nebraska.  

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

Will Kentucky’s Governor Run for President?

What It Looks Like to Invest in Teachers

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Senate Democrats Select 2025 Leaders

A Fight to End the Grocery Tax

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Bill Lee Backs Bad Ideas

He wants the cash without the accountability

It’s not really surprising that Bill Lee is supporting incoming President Donald Trump’s bad ideas. That said, the impact on students in Tennessee schools could be devastating.

To be clear: The leader of a state that earns an “F” grade in investment in students, is near the bottom in the nation (and the Southeast) for teacher compensation, and consistently fails its most vulnerable students wants to remove all guardrails and just be trusted to “do what’s best?”

While it is not yet clear if Trump will actually dissolve the Department of Education, powering the agency down as he’s suggested could remove key protections for students with disabilities. It could also drastically alter how funding for low-income students is distributed.

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

Will 2025 be The Year of the Voucher in Tennessee?

Kevin’s Back: Kevin Huffman Seeks Relevance

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A Plan to End the Grocery Tax

Democrats Speak Out on Voucher Scam

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Teachers Brace for Second Trump Term

Insight from educators on what Trump 2.0 may mean for schools

Trump is back, and some former educators think that may mean an expediting of the current teacher exodus.

These moves would gut public education, imperil our most vulnerable students, and move us closer to a dystopia in which education is little more than childcare and teaching a low-skilled, low-paid job where EdTech bots “teach” and humans merely supervise.

Quinn wonders what will happen at the end of another four years of Trump:

If the teaching profession is gutted, as it likely will be, and if a mass exodus occurs, which is likely may—what will be left of our education system? And what will happen to our young people in it, the most vulnerable of whom will be most deeply impacted?

Also, will Betsy DeVos come back? Or, will a pro-voucher governor like Bill Lee take on the Ed Secretary role?

Betsy DeVos testifies before the Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee confirmation hearing to be next Secretary of Education on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

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Voters Reject School Vouchers

The Growing Teacher Pay Penalty

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TN Lawmaker Works to End Grocery Tax

Swift Opposition to Lee’s Voucher Scam