MSEA Response to Executive Order to Dismantle U.S. Education Department
Howard County social studies teacher and Maryland State Education Association President Paul Lemle released the statement below in response to President Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, which supports Maryland students with roughly $1.5 billion in annual funding, equating to approximately 10% of public school funding in the state. For details of specific federal education funding by county and on a statewide basis, see this page hosted by the National Education Association.
“While it might sound like a distant bureaucracy, the people and programs that USDE supports are in every one of our communities. The Department of Education provides direct financial support that benefits every student with a disability, in every one of our public schools. Students across Maryland qualify for federal grants and loans to receive career training or attend college. In every county, schools serving lower-income students receive Title I funding. Dismantling USDE would put our kids behind for generations to come.
“This potential chaos redoubles the importance of doing all we can in Maryland to strengthen and protect our commitment to our students, especially those coming from backgrounds of poverty, receiving special education services, or who are multilingual learners.”