Majority of Americans Support Department of Education

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to condemn in the strongest terms possible President Trump's executive order that threatens millions of students and local public schools through the dismantling of the Department of Education.

This is an illegal and unconstitutional abuse of power straight out of the Project 2025 playbook. Congress created the Department. Only Congress can dismantle it, something I will fight every step of the way.

I note that Donald Trump and Elon Musk have likely never set forth in a public school, and they certainly do not understand what the Department of Education actually does and why it is important, but students, families, and teachers in Oregon and across the country understand.

In the past few weeks, several Oregon parents have told me they are terrified that their kids will lose access to vital educational services. One mom said she worries about sending her two kids with special needs to kindergarten next year if there are cuts to IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Unlike Secretary McMahon, I actually know what IDEA stands for and what it means for students. I have been an education advocate for decades, and no one has ever said we need less money to meet the needs of students with disabilities. It is always a plea to fully fund IDEA.

Another mom told me that her kids attend a title I school and get enough to eat because of school breakfast and lunch programs. It is a fact that high-poverty schools, about half the schools in the U.S., have greater educational needs, and that is why title I dollars provide flexibility so districts can determine how to best meet the needs of their low-income students. Cutting that funding will widen, rather than close, the achievement gap.

Nonsensically, Trump and Musk are rejoicing at the idea of returning power to States and local communities. Return what? States and local districts already have power over core functions of education, including curriculum, staffing, and budgeting. In fact, it is against the law for the Federal Government to set curriculum.

Donald Trump also makes a bogus argument that declining test scores justify abolishing the Department, but test scores don't make the case for slashing Federal investment in education. On the contrary, they show us where we need to direct resources and support to students, especially low-income students and students with disabilities.

Unfortunately, we are losing an important research tool about what students need because the Trump administration has taken a chain saw to the National Center for Education Statistics.

We know that more than 51,000 public schools serve concentrated populations of students from low-income families and receive title I funds. Almost 7.5 million students with disabilities receive a free, appropriate public education because of IDEA.

I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to speak with your local and State legislators and ask them if they have extra resources to fill these gaps.

Also, the majority of Federal funding through the Department of Education is to open doors of opportunity to higher education for students who choose to attend college but can't afford the cost. This includes Pell grants, Federal work-study, and low-interest loans to those who qualify.

I would not be where I am today without the Federal aid I got to first attend community college, then college, then law school.

Importantly, the Department of Education is a civil rights agency. The Office for Civil Rights enforces Federal laws prohibiting discrimination and harassment, investigating thousands of civil rights cases every year, primarily from students with disabilities. This work will be more difficult, if not impossible, with the Trump administration firing at least 240 employees in the Office for Civil Rights and closing more than half of its regional offices.

Donald Trump also says he wants to shut down the Department but keep its core functions. Get rid of the people with expertise and give the core functions to other agencies without the expertise or the staff to handle them? That is not government efficiency. It is absurdity.

Last month, I introduced H. Res. 94 in defense of public schools and the Department of Education, and more than 85 of my colleagues have signed on. We will fight all efforts to defund and dismantle the important work the Department does, and we won't back down.

The consequences are clear: Closing the Department of Education will harm students, families, communities, and the economy. The majority of Americans support the Department of Education, and I know public school advocates will be working tirelessly to maintain the strong and vital Federal investment in our system of public education.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk might think that this ill-conceived abuse of power will go unchecked. They are about to find out how wrong they are.

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