Groups fighting for equity in education are asking the state to protect vulnerable groups as the Trump administration guts the federal Department of Education.
The Secretary of Education has moved to fire most of the staff and cancel millions in grants, aiming to transfer more responsibility to the states. The agency is supposed to oversee college aid, special education, national educational data and educational civil rights claims.
Christopher Nellum, executive director of EdTrust-West, said California needs to mitigate the damage.
“We will experience drastic cuts to education funding, slashing of grants that students get to go to college, and then undermining civil and educational rights,” Nellum outlined. “Our state does not have to wait for the damage to come. We want our state to be proactive.”
A coalition of education groups is calling on California to boost funding for state-based college financial aid, teacher preparation, multilingual learners and minority-serving institutions.
Sarah Lundy, director of partnerships at the nonprofit YouthTruth, said cuts to the Institute for Education Sciences mean the annual National Assessment of Educational Progress will likely be delayed and incomplete.
“You’re now operating without the information that you need to say, here’s how we can best invest taxpayer dollars,” Lundy explained. “It’s not a partisan issue. All families and communities, red, blue, Republican, Democratic, purple, independent. Want students to be able to have the best possible education outcomes with the best bang for their buck.”
The state of California created its own data collection program a few years ago, called Cradle to Career. Gov. Gavin Newsom is scheduled to release his preliminary budget proposal in mid-January.
