Local education officials in Connecticut are trying to understand how their schools will be affected by President Donald Trump's order to gut the U.S. Department of Education.
Trump’s announcement came a day before Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam announced Friday another $3 million in city funding for public schools. The mayor says he also hopes to find another $3 million in cost savings at the city and school district level by consolidating services.
Currently, Hartford Public Schools receives about $28 million dollars a year from the U.S Department of Education. That funding includes Title I money for schools with low test scores and high poverty rates.
The Trump administration says eliminating the education department will give states and local school officials a freer hand to end diversity efforts and try new ways of improving test scores.
But Arulampalam said the cuts would hurt the district, which relies on federal Title I money.
“Cuts to Title I would be devastating to our school district, and to school districts all around the country,” Arulampalam said.
The Trump administration has not said it will cut Title I grants. But as NPR reports, the administration has laid off most of the department staff that determines who qualifies for the grants.
Arulampalam said the Trump administration's cuts make no sense.
“The best investment we can make is an investment in our kids,” Arulampalam said. “When we fail to invest in our kids, we fail to invest in a stronger country, a stronger society, a stronger community.”
Federal funding for special education also an open question
Hartford receives about $8 million in federal funding to help pay for special education, according to district officials.
Hartford Board of Education Chair Jen Hockenhull said the federal money helps pay for students who need services beyond the regular math, reading and science.
“That money is incredibly important. It goes to fund our most vulnerable students,” Hockenhull said. “It's for our students living in poverty, it's our students that have special needs.”
Locally, special education services have become a big financial challenge for school districts.
In Hartford, much of the school district’s budget shortfall can be attributed to rising costs of special education, officials said. Demand for services continues to rise in Hartford and in districts across the state. Lawmakers recently stepped in, issuing $40 million in emergency special education funding this year.
As uncertainty swirls around federal funding, the Trump administration said it has already started to cut about half of the staff at the education department.
Meanwhile, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and 20 of his counterparts across the country have sued to stop Trump’s order to dismantle the department.
“Donald Trump and Linda McMahon say they will just send this money to the states. I don’t believe that for a single second,” Tong said in a statement. “They have zero plan and no authorization to do that.”
Former teacher and current Congresswoman from Connecticut’s 5th District, Jahana Hayes, said Congress created the Department of Education.
“Only Congress has the authority to dismantle this or any department,” Hayes, a Democrat, said in a statement. “By signing this Executive Order, President Trump is continuing his unconstitutional crusade to collapse federal agencies and end necessary services to the American people.”
Arunan Arulampalam's father-in-law is Gregory B. Butler, who is a member of the Board of Trustees of Connecticut Public.
