Arizona education leaders are looking at what it may mean in the state should President Donald Trump be successful in dismantling the U.S. Department of Education.
That mood either involves following legal challenges to the executive order Trump signed on Thursday or celebrating the department's demise, with each side citing money and education oversight as key aspects.
The executive order calls for “closing the Department of Education,” something for which Trump and Republicans have long advocated. The federal department has a $268 billion budget Congressional appropriation, or 4% of overall federal spending, and, according to the Pew Research Center, is the smallest Cabinet-level department, with 4,245 workers.
In Arizona, a fiscal policy analysis from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee shows $2.5 billion in federal money was appropriated to the Arizona Department of Education for fiscal year 2024, a little more than $1 billion of which supports K-12 levels.
Reached Thursday, Arizona State Superintendent Tom Horne suggests funding levels for Arizona schools would continue, but from Congress rather than the Department of Education, which the Trump administration figures to shutter.
“Indications are that the congressional appropriations will continue,” said Horne, a Republican.
A legal battle is already underway, however.
Last week Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes joined a coalition of 20 other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration to stop the dismantling of the Department of Education.
“Let’s not pretend this is about making government more efficient. It is not. It is destruction,” said Mayes, a Democrat, in a March 13 statement. “It isn’t about better education policy. It is about tearing down public education by those who want to privatize it for profit.”
The Arizona School Boards Association, a group of governing board elected officials from across the state, said because Congress had created the department, any true disolution would require a congressional act. Until then, it would continue working with districts throughout the state.
"We remain committed to working with education stakeholders at all levels of government to ensure that Arizona’s students receive the high-quality education they deserve," the group said. "Any significant changes to federal education policy or structure will require thoughtful consideration of how such changes might affect funding streams, educational programs, and the support systems on which our schools rely."
Also at odds is how a presumed closure of the federal education department would impact the Office for Civil Rights within the DOE. The office administers the Civil Rights Data Collection, a mandatory survey of all public school districts and schools in the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
The office investigates complaints alleging discrimination, determines whether federal civil rights laws have been violated, initiates compliance reviews, and provides policy guidance and technical assistance to schools and school districts.
With no federal education department, the office’s capacity to collect data – which at this time it is legally obligated to complete – could be eliminated and with it the resources to identify disparities in education. That could compromise school districts from being held accountable for allegations of discrimination.
“Project 2025 proposes to close the (education department) and end federal enforcement of civil rights, deregulate and eliminate federal funding for educational programs, and restrict access to inclusive, accurate, and quality instruction,” The Thurgood Marshall Institute, a multidisciplinary center within the Legal Defense Fund, states. “These proposals will jeopardize the education of Black students and all students who rely on our nation’s public schools.”
Laws currently enforced by the Office for Civil Rights include Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex discrimination; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability; and Age Discrimination Act of 1975, which prohibits age discrimination.
Thursday’s executive order from the White House makes no mention of the Office for Civil Rights, nor its role moving forward.
Horne said Thursday he has “mixed feelings” about the role of the Office for Civil Rights.
“A lot of times they bring actions on crazy complaints that don't really deal with discrimination,” he said.
As an example he cited a previous federal government requirement that, in identifying kids to be designated as English language learners were asked among qualification questions if anyone in the student’s household spoke a language other than English.
“Now I say only one question is useful: ‘What is the dominant language of the student?’, but they would ask four questions,” Horne explained. “So Navajo kids who spoke only English, nothing but English, but say, my grandma lives with us and she speaks Navajo, they'd make them take a test.”
Ultimately Horne supports the idea of closing the department at the federal level.
“The first thing I'll do is throw a party because, you know, we already monitor the schools, and then the federal department monitors us,” he said. “So you got two agencies doing what one agency can do and often we find them to be irrational and do things for no good reason.”
President Jimmy Carter signed legislation signed legislation in 1979 that made the Department of Education a Cabinet-level agency. Previously the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, was a cabinet level agency from 1953 to 1979 with a mission to administer federal and federal-state programs in public health, education, and social and economic security.
Steve Stockmar News Editor | Sun Life Magazine & Arts & Entertainment
YourValley.net
Meet Steve Steve Stockmar joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, and has been an Arizona journalist for almost 30 years. He serves as editor of Sun Life Magazine and contributes to West Valley communities where he focuses mostly on arts & culture, education, and profiles of neighbors making a difference.
Community: Every season Steve serves as a “buddy” with the Miracle League of Arizona in Scottsdale, has volunteered his time with Family Promise in Glendale, and previously served on the Ghostlight Theatre board in Sun City West.
Education: Graduated from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff with a Journalism major and English minor.
Random Fact: Steve once won a 50-player live Texas Hold ’Em poker tournament.
Hobbies: Anguishing over his beloved Chicago Cubs and Bears; listening to Beatles and Grateful Dead music.
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