Students and Staff Brace for Uncertain Future as Trump Shutters Department of Education

A homemade sign welcomes an employee to the Department of Education’s Office of Planning and Educational Policy Development which was recently shuttered. Photo credit: Judy Becker 

The United States has entered a time of unprecedented upheaval. Barely two months have passed since Donald Trump began his second presidency, but waves of fear and uncertainty already wash over the country. Washington, D.C. has felt the impacts of the Trump Administration strongly, and being just blocks away from White House, School Without Walls sits central to the turmoil.

Perhaps the greatest uncertainty that Walls, DCPS, and public schools nationwide face, is the future of the Department of Education. 

Established in 1979, the Department of Education oversees funding for public schools, administers student loans, and runs programmes that help low-income students.

Since his first days in office, Donald Trump has emphasized his commitment to using executive power in order to fulfill a longstanding conservative goal of shutting down the Department. Trump signed an executive order in late March that aims to shutter the Department though it will certainly face court challenges regarding its constitutionality.

AP US History teacher Benjamin Williams serves as a representative on the DC Board of Education, where he has developed an understanding of the role that the Department of Education plays within DCPS. 

“Mainly, we rely on the Department for access to a lot of grants. Both block and categorical,” he explained. 

Block grants are flexible funds from the federal government for general purposes, while categorical grants are targeted funds for specific programs or projects. Without such grants, there is potential for areas such as special education, student access to higher education, and civil rights within schooling, to be impacted. 

For senior Anna Mayer, a student representative on the DC Board of Education, her uncertainty arises due to the incomparable existence of the Department's closure. 

“A big issue here is what's going on with the Federal government is so unprecedented it is hard to predict what will happen,” Mayer stated. Regarding the future of Department of Education funding, Principal Isaac stated “I do not have that information at this time.” 

Additionally, a spokesperson for the Office of the City Administrator stated "we are currently reviewing all executive actions, orders, and federal agency memos to better understand potential impacts, that is all we can provide at the time”.

The level of unknown is unsettling for students and staff alike. In the face of challenges and uncertainty, however, Walls students have shown that they do not back down. Last spring, students successfully re-implemented teaching positions after the school was struck with budget cuts. The spring before that, students passed legislation towards implementing the Green New Deal for Schools into DCPS. Walls is consistently demonstrating the proactive and effective measures that students can take to create change. Mr. Williams offers suggestions for students to create change through their local branches. “At this point, there's a lot of uncertainty, but Walls students should be vocal. Communicate concerns to the deputy mayor's office and to the [D.C] council” says Williams.

Those on the D.C council to reach out to include Chairman Phil Mendelson, and At Large Council Members Kenyan McDuffie, Anita Bonds, Robert White, and Christina Henderson.

As Mayer emphasized, “we can fight and I think we should. I am a firm believer that every individual should use all the power we have. We are dealing with one of the biggest entities in the world. Speaking for myself, it's really scary thinking about the amount of power they have compared to DCPS students, but I don't think that's a reason to not push back against it.”