Washington, DC – On Tuesday, the Trump Administration announced its latest move to deny millions of students their equal opportunity in education. The Administration will move six major Department of Education (ED) programs to other federal agencies in an escalation of its illegal efforts to get rid of the Department without Congressional approval, with more programs expected to follow:
- The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and Office of Postsecondary Education will be moved to the Department of Labor, affecting K-12 and higher education programs
- The Indian Education Division will move to the Department of Interior
- Foreign language programs will move to the State Department
- Two other programs for students with children and licensing for doctors will move to the Department of Health and Human Services
Quyên Đinh, Executive Director of SEARAC, responds:
“Every student has the right to a quality education, and the Trump Administration is denying that to students who already face significant educational obstacles. As the children and grandchildren of refugees, Southeast Asian American students are more likely to face greater obstacles to a quality education. Federal programs like Title I, which helps educate low-income students; college bridge programs like TRIO that help first-generation students succeed in college; and funding for English learner support have helped so many of our students access educational opportunities that they would otherwise be shut out of.
Moving these federal programs is an underhanded move to dismantle the Department of Education illegally. The affected programs were created especially to support students who are most vulnerable to educational disparities, so to abandon them is to abandon our students who are most in need during a time when our families already face increased food and economic insecurity. Outsourcing entire educational programs to agencies with no knowledge or expertise in education will prevent essential resources and support from reaching the students who need it most.
As we did when the Trump Administration illegally fired ED staff and unilaterally defunded longstanding programs like the Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) program, SEARAC continues to urge our elected officials to protect the Department of Education and preserve the many programs that Congress created to guarantee equal access to educational opportunities for every student.”
Media contact: Elaine Sanchez Wilson | elaine@searac.org
