Educator Voice: How dismantling the Department of Education would affect teachers and students

Editor’s note: In February, News Hour Classroom put out a call to teachers to ask how closing the Department of Education would impact their work. News reports on Thursday, March 6, of President Donald Trump signing an executive order to shutter the department were denied by the administration. However, on March 11, the administration announced that it would cut nearly half of the workforce of the DoE among other changes.

We’ve updated the post with a few more entries since originally publishing it on March 6, 2025. If you would like to add your opinion, you can submit your thoughts here, and we will add to this post. We have removed teacher names to protect their anonymity and are only providing locations and teaching experience.

Teachers, if you would like to discuss with your students, you can find a Daily News Lesson about the closing of the Education Department here.

We will be updating this post with more news as it becomes available.

Elimination of special ed services will impact every student in public education

Substitute teacher in Walnut Creek, Calif.

Elimination of special ed services will impact every student in public education. Teachers will be eliminated, increasing class sizes for already crowded classes. It will further exacerbate teacher shortages and discourage all from obtaining credentials, opening the door for unqualified and unvetted individuals in classrooms, which will jeopardize safety and quality of instruction.

Rural schools will shutter where no other options exist, and it will eliminate student achievement monitoring and data analysis around best practices, removing equal access for all students.

As a SPED teacher, I can see an opportunity

Special education teacher in Austin, Texas

Upon first hearing of the dismantling of the DOE the mood is one of bleakness and despair. Funding for important programs could be cut. Children with special needs could lose important funding for service they need to succeed in general education.

But as a SPED teacher, I can see an opportunity.

I see many parents take advantage of the system to gain an edge for their child. Many children in SPED don’t even use the accommodations. And the student won’t let a teacher help them to use them. Sometimes, the student will take advantage by doing little to no work because they know the teacher will pass them regardless.

These cases are taking away resources from those who really do need the help. So even if funding is limited, we can start to weed these cases out and stop the excessive use of special education and use the funding we do have more efficiently.

WATCH: How Department of Education cuts could hurt resources for students with disabilities

Title I allows our district to provide 1:1 computer services for our students

11-12 grade U.S. history and civics in Berwyn, Ill.

I work in a school district that receives a significant amount of funding from the Department of Education through Title I. Much of this funding goes to vital resources for our students. Technology is one notable example—Title I allows our district to provide 1:1 computer services for our students. Abolishment of the Department of Education, or merely a sizable cut in its funding, could deprive our students access to this pivotal educational resource.

The DOE is nothing more than a useless bureaucracy

Recently retired principal, New York

States will finally be able to decide what is best for them! There’s way too much guidance and policies put out by the DOE that do not represent the wants of local districts. Schools and teachers need more freedom to teach their students as they see fit. The DOE is nothing more than a useless bureaucracy.

…the loss of the DOE will be predominantly felt in all of our programs designed to help economically disadvantaged students and families…

High school world history teacher in southeastern Mass.

As Massachusetts tends to support public education better than most states, the loss of the DOE will be predominantly felt in all of our programs designed to help economically disadvantaged students and families qualifying for support and federal assistance funding under the Elementary & Secondary Education Act of 1965.

WATCH: Linda McMahon pressed on Trump’s planned cuts to the Department of Education

It will be like going back in time to the 1960s, when children with learning differences and challenging behavior were not entitled to an education at all

Post-secondary teacher in Lincoln, Neb.

The rights of children with disabilities will no longer be protected without the Department of Education, their regulations and the Office of Civil Rights in that department. There will be little to no funding for special education research or funding for local education agencies to support the excess costs of children who require special education.

That means we will be hindered in determining what are evidence-based practices, particularly related to individualizing by child characteristics, including culture. Funding for technical support for teachers and parents of children in schools, and especially children with disabilities, will no longer exist, so those programs will shut down, nationally.

Funding for personnel preparation and doctoral training will end, meaning that areas that are already facing a need for more teachers will not receive funding for Masters and doctoral programs, so there will be further teacher shortages, shortages of professors to teach educators and related service providers, like speech therapists.

It will be like going back in time to the 1960s, when children with learning differences and challenging behavior were not entitled to an education at all. This will bankrupt families and drive them out of the workforce as they will need to stay home to care for their children all day when they are expelled from school.

The dismantling of the DOE will funnel more resources directly to the states

Middle school science teacher in Mt. Juliet, Tenn.

The dismantling of the DOE will funnel more resources directly to the states and put policy decisions back into the control of local communities. This will allow me to focus more on my priorities (students) and not about the demands for needless paperwork and reporting requirements from the federal government.

Educators, already overworked and underpaid, desperately need help, resources and more funding to meet the needs of their students

First grade teacher, Ruckersville, Va.

Dismantling the Department of Education (DOE) would have a devastating impact on Title 1, English Learners (EL), and special education students who rely on critical funding and grants for their education. With the teacher shortage already causing strain on public education, removing this support will only make it harder for students to receive the education they deserve. Educators, already overworked and underpaid, desperately need help, resources and more funding to meet the needs of their students. As a teacher of 21 first graders, including 8 EL students, I see firsthand how some of my students rely on food from the school and Title 1 funding just to get by. Education needs more funding, not less. Cutting these resources will only worsen the situation for vulnerable students and educators alike. Our schools need investment, not cuts, if we want to truly support the success of all students.

…my students … could lose their only access point to a mental health professional

social worker in Maryland

I’m a school social worker and provide critical mental health services to students in my district who don’t have access to community-based resources due to gaps in insurance coverage, waitlists in the community or other barriers. My district is cutting many roles this year due to the tight budget and we were fully told that our jobs are not guaranteed if federal funding is cut and they have redistribute local funds to cover title 1 and special ed. I could lose my job and my students, many of whom are struggling with suicidality, self-harm, bullying and substance use, could lose their only access point to a mental health professional.

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