By Aria Brent
AFRO Staff Writer
abrent@afro.com
While on the campaign trail, Donald Trump discussed his plans to dismantle the Department of Education, and now that he is back in the Oval Office, his threat to eliminate the agency has a chance to become a reality. Although the department’s dissolution is not certain, parents and teachers are concerned about how it could impact the nation’s most vulnerable students.
“What Trump is threatening to do with dismantling the Department of Education is give all the power back to the states, and that sounds good in theory, but you and I both know we have 50 states,” said Sidney Jones, Ed.D. “You cannot trust 50 different states to have the best interests of Black students at heart.”
“I’m from the South—I’m a proud person from Louisiana, but I know my state,” Jones continued. “I know the South in general, and you definitely shouldn’t trust the state of Louisiana and many other states with making sure Black students get treated equally. Especially not the states that wanted to tell us separate was equal—not those states.”
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 49.6 million students were enrolled in elementary and secondary schools in 2022. Of those, 7.4 million were Black—nearly a third of the 22.1 million white students counted. Black students are underrepresented at all levels of schooling due to decreased enrollment, particularly in preschool and college.
A 2023 U.S. Census Bureau report found that in 2019, about 53 percent of Black children were enrolled in preschool, but by 2021, only 39 percent were enrolled. The report also noted that in 2011, more than 3.5 million Black students were enrolled in higher education. By 2019, enrollment dropped to just over 3 million, and in 2021, it fell to 2,882,000.
For years, Black students have been at risk of not receiving the education they deserve due to systemic racism. Since its founding in 1979, the Department of Education has played a crucial role in creating programs for minority, disabled, and low-income students, regulating national education standards, and overseeing student loan disbursements.
With more right-wing officials opposing race- and gender-based lessons, many are advocating for the agency’s authority to be given to the states.
For 26 years, Jones has worked as an educator and mentor in central Ohio. His Southern roots have made him acutely aware of racism in the American education system. As both an educator and a student, he has seen how the department benefits minority and low-income students.
“When I was an undergraduate student, I remember receiving Pell Grants for school, and I later learned that they were distributed by the Department of Education,” Jones said. “As I became an educator, I then began to learn more about other things they operate, like early childhood development programs.
“Additionally, there are programs specifically designed to help lower-income or minority students at the collegiate level, like the TRIO program.”
Jones noted that, like many government agencies, the department is not without flaws. However, the programs it operates are vital to the nation’s education system. He explained how the department’s development has shaped special education programs throughout the country.
“Special education programs are regulated by the Department of Education, and those programs aren’t designed to help just Black students with disabilities but all students,” he said. “I think some people forget that resources like classroom aides and individualized education plans are made possible because of the Department of Education.”
Transportation and funding at Risk
Hope Hurst has dedicated her life to the education and empowerment of Black children. She spent 32 years working in the Columbus City Schools district and has seen firsthand how the department plays a vital role in the lives of inner-city students.
“The Department of Education regulates the busing system and is responsible for making sure kids can get to school safely,” she said. “If Trump were to dismantle this agency, I’m sure the school transportation system would be affected, and it would then trickle down to the students. There are already so many students who become truant or miss vital lessons in school because of transportation issues.”
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported that in 2021, 60 percent of low-income students took the bus to school, and 20 percent of low-income families owned no vehicles. The majority—70 percent—relied on school buses for transportation.
Hurst explained how transportation issues could impact not only students but entire schools. Attendance numbers are often reviewed when determining funding and annual budgets.
“Here in Columbus, we have Count Week sometime in October, and it’s a really big deal because what your school’s attendance numbers look like that week will determine how much funding your school gets for the year,” Hurst said. “And even though this crucial time period is just a week long, once administrators get students into the flow of getting to school on time—or at all, for that matter—they try to keep that momentum.”
Title I, a federal program run by the Department of Education, provides financial assistance to schools with high percentages of low-income students. According to MDR Education, as of March 2024, 49,229 public schools in the U.S. were designated as Title I schools. Hurst described how critical this funding is to students and families in predominantly Black and low-income areas.
“Without the Department of Education, many of our already low-performing schools and districts would be stripped of Title I funding, which affords schools the opportunity to improve student outcomes and raise academic performance,” she said. “Each school I worked in was a Title I school, and with our funding, we were able to hire reading intervention teachers as extra support.
“These reading intervention teachers worked with students who were most likely to fall behind or were already behind according to their diagnostic assessments. Without them, students would not receive a well-needed double dose of support in reading and math.”
