In the first few months of Donald Trump’s second term as the President of the United States, the Department of Education has undergone many changes and is being downsized immensely to be shut down entirely eventually. These changes can affect education as society knows it in America.
This all began last year, on Nov. 9, 2024, when Trump nominated Linda McMahon to serve as his Secretary of Education when he took office once again. This took many by surprise due to her lack of knowledge and experience in the field of education. For years she was known for being the wife of Vince McMahon, the former Executive Chairman and CEO of the WWE, who she has since divorced.
For most of her life, she was a business executive and was also a part of the WWE as a promoter. This begs the question of why she got the nomination despite her lack of experience. Supporters of hers have said the reason she was nominated for the job was due to her business background.
After officially getting the job as the country’s Secretary of Education, McMahon has made many changes, especially with the Department of Education.
After taking the job she said in a statement, “My vision is aligned with the President’s: to send education back to the states and empower all parents to choose an excellent education for their children.”
While this may seem like a good thing to some, others say there could be potential negative effects on education as a whole. Employees of the Department of Education will also be affected by this new plan.
On March 12, almost 50% of all Department of Education employees were fired in mass layoffs. This was the first step taken to begin the total shutdown of the department.
“[Trump’s] directive to me, clearly, is to shut down the Department of Education, which we know we’ll have to work with Congress, you know, to get that accomplished,” McMahon told The Hill reporters following the mass layoffs.
Shutting down the Department of Education can have a serious effect on schools around the country. Some of these effects can potentially be removing critical funding for public schools while adding more funding and less oversight to private schools. This also has the potential to greenlight ICE raids on public schools.
These recent events can also impact Warren Central and the entirety of Warren Township. Many members of the faculty have concerns about what the future may hold. English teacher Alison Baldwin shares many of these concerns, worrying about the future of the Warren community.
“Warren Central will definitely suffer, in my opinion,” Baldwin said. “The role of the Department of Education is to be a champion in enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination and ensuring every student has access to an education that will help them reach their full potential. Dismantling the department means defunding programs that feed, educate and protect our most vulnerable and underserved students. These are critical elements of the Warren demographic. Trump’s proposed solution leaves me feeling fearful for families, fearful for our students and community.”
Social studies teacher Randy Hudgins is also tuned in to this entire situation and has his own thoughts about the dismantlement.
“It is very troubling as an overall statement of the value that the Trump Administration places on education in this country,” Hudgins said. “He made that loud and clear when he appointed someone to head the department whose primary education experience is running World Wrestling Entertainment. It is part of a larger effort to undermine public schools in general across our country in the resources we put into our public schools, our efforts to ensure every student has the best opportunity to live their best life, regardless of their background or zip code.”
Warren Central principal Masimba Taylor has considered the repercussions of the Department of Education shutting down and has her own thoughts on the entire situation as well.
“My thoughts are all over the place,” Taylor said. “The rationale just doesn’t make sense to me. Whether I agree or disagree, I can work with someone if there is a rationale, where I can see where they’re at. I just don’t understand the rationale. I think the Department of Education, similar to a lot of other departments, are being used as pawns. It’s either being used as a pawn for something or it’s being used to distract us from something else. My bigger concern is we’ve dismantled it and then what?”
Besides the programs that the dismantlement could potentially affect, most decisions involving education are made by the state itself.
“What we do is really mandated at the state level,” Taylor said. “So, there are some things that people are worried about that are really just a state decision. Now, that can be impacted by the bills that are being proposed or coming through. Warren Township, myself and others are really paying close attention to those bills.”