On the Chopping Block: How Trump's Education Agenda Could Reshape District Funding

By Josiah Foster

In his first months in office, President Trump has signed 55 executive orders, exceeding the number issued by any president in decades during the same period. His administration has prioritized efforts to reshape education policy, with its central proposal to eliminate the federal Department of Education (DoE). 

The Department of Education is a federal agency responsible for overseeing and helping to fund school districts and programs across the country. It is responsible for billions of dollars in funding, and its grants are an important source of support for every district in the country. The administration has criticized the agency as a promoter of what it describes as “woke” ideologies, including Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, Critical Race Theory, and gender identity programs. 

The President has promised to do away with the Department and ‘return education to the states’, an idea he repeatedly touted during his 2024 campaign. Even without congressional approval, the President and his administration can cripple the Department from within. Already, Elon Musk’s unofficial ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ or ‘DOGE’ is slashing funding for the agency and decimating several programs, to the tune of over a billion dollars. 

One of the administration’s most controversial moves has been tying federal funding to school policies. The administration has announced that it will cut funding for districts that continue race-based programs such as DEI initiatives. 

A recent executive order states that the concepts of ‘unconscious bias’ or ‘White privilege’ actually ‘promote[s] racial discrimination and undermine[s] national unity.’ 

In addition, the President’s executive orders demand that funding be cut for districts that promote ‘gender ideology’, which is defined as the ideas that a person’s chosen gender identity is legitimate and that a gender spectrum exists. Such policies could have significant consequences for districts that rely on federal aid to support special education, equity programs, and other student services.

For Vancouver Public Schools, this means that an approximately 6-9% of the already reduced annual budget is potentially on the chopping block. Last year, the district was forced to adopt a 9% budget decrease, and with 85% of expenditures coming from teacher salaries, the district had no choice but to reduce staff numbers. 

In a previous statement, the district emphasized its commitment to maintaining small class sizes, but another major reduction could make this goal difficult to sustain. Unless there is an increase in funding from Olympia, President Trump’s proposed moves are likely to result in the defunding of special education programs which are almost entirely federally funded. Tough choices will have to be made at the district level about ways to move around funding to meet the needs of every student. 

Tough decisions will need to be made as well about programs that the administration could deem ‘dangerous indoctrination’. However, it’s important to remember that school districts across the country are far more dependent on federal funding, and could face budget cuts of over 20%.

As the administration continues to roll out its education policies, students, educators, and community members can stay involved by reaching out to elected officials.