Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
State and local officials, along with the state’s congressional delegation, are raising concerns about the potential implications of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump yesterday that aims to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
While congressional approval would be needed to formally close a federal department, the executive order directs the secretary of education to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure” of her department “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”
The executive order comes a week after Education Secretary Linda McMahon slashed the department’s workforce nearly in half, including deep cuts to its Office for Civil Rights and the Institute of Education Sciences, which gathers data on the nation’s academic progress.
Gov. Maura Healey said closing the Department of Education would be “bad for students, teachers and schools,” and could threaten more than $2 billion in education funding that flows to Massachusetts each year.
“This will mean bigger class sizes, cancelled afterschool programs and less support for our students, especially those who live in rural communities or have special needs,” the governor said in a prepared statement.
She said the state would not be able to fully replace the loss of federal funds.
According to the Healey-Dirscoll administration, federal education funding to Massachusetts supports:
• Districts in low-income areas to help pay for teacher salaries and benefits, school counselors, and homeless liaisons
• Low- and middle-income students to help them afford to go to college
• Special education, including paying for assistive technology for students with disabilities; professional development and salaries for special education teachers, paraprofessionals, and reading specialists; and transportation to help students get the services and programming they need
• Student services like physical therapy, speech therapy and social workers
At an MMA meeting this morning in Wrentham, Congresswoman Katherine Clark said, “There’s no way Massachusetts can face that kind of cut to public schools,” on top of other federal budget cuts that have been forecasted. “That impact will not be something that even the best of wringing every penny out of every dollar is going to be able to handle.”
The U.S. Department of Education was created by an act of Congress in 1979. The department manages extensive student loan programs and a range of aid programs for colleges and school districts, like school meals and support for homeless students.
Title I, the largest source of federal funding for K-12 schools, aids schools and districts with a high percentage of students from low-income families. The Department of Education also distributes Pell Grants that help students afford a post-secondary education.