March 12, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Neil Bhaerman, nbhaerman@oft-aft.org
Dismantling the Department of Education Hurts Ohio Children
COLUMBUS — Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper released the following statement on the Trump Administration’s firing of 1300 Department of Education employees; their termination of leases for Department of Education offices in Cleveland, Chicago, Boston, and New York; and their stated end goal of abolishing the Department of Education:
“Donald Trump and his unelected, unappointed deputy Elon Musk have proudly taken a chainsaw to the federal government. In less than two months, they’ve illegally fired tens of thousands of employees, illegally suspended federal payments that were authorized by Congress, illegally shuttered US AID, and illegally removed government officials who worked to prevent corruption and protect whistleblowers. Whether it was firing – and then needing to rehire – workers who handle nuclear safety and bird flu, or whether it was abandoning the farmers whose crops underpinned US AID’s famine relief work, these rash actions have led to costly chaos for Americans, not efficiency or savings.
Now they’re trying to gut the Department of Education, and the people who will be harmed in the process will be children, college students, and families. Firing more than 1300 Department of Education workers, including hundreds who work on student financial aid and civil rights protections, will not reduce the deficit. Rather, it will create enormous harm by eroding the government's ability to support successful strategies that improve children’s academic outcomes and help students afford higher education.
Every child in Ohio, from our largest cities to our smallest towns, deserves access to high quality local public schools. That is our vision, but it is also a guarantee in the Ohio Constitution. Educators and policymakers who take this goal seriously know that it can only be achieved with the support and partnership of a robust, functional U.S. Department of Education.
The Department of Education provides more than $1.3 billion to Ohio schools alone, with the overwhelming majority of those funds supporting students from low income families and students with disabilities. It also provides $63 billion in federal student loans to our state, supporting over 1.8 million Ohioans who are pursuing education beyond a high school diploma at either a trade school, 2-year or 4-year college.
Weakening the Department of Education puts Ohio’s access to these critical funds at risk. Abolishing the Department completely, as President Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon have pledged to do, puts these resources in even more jeopardy. Their stated plan, to “block grant” these funds back to the states would take away all accountability for making sure these public dollars are spent responsibly, without waste and corruption, and in line with their intended purpose as allocated by Congress. That is, if the Administration even attempts to send the money back to the states rather than use it to help pay for the $4.5 trillion dollar tax cut for the wealthy that is in the Trump-supported budget passed by the U.S. House.
We are beyond being surprised or shocked or disappointed in this administration’s callous disregard for the real-world impacts of their reckless actions. We are determined and committed to making sure that Ohio students aren’t caught in the crossfire.”
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