Federal policy decisions rarely stay confined to Washington D.C.; they ripple outward, producing effects seen at state and regional levels. These changes affect communities disproportionately, often harming underfunded communities much more than wealthy ones. In an official Executive Order released on March 20, 2025, titled Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities, President Trump laid out his plans to “facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities.” (The White House, 2025)
The US Department of Education was created by Congress in 1979 under the presidency of Jimmy Carter. It combined offices from multiple federal agencies. Today, it supervises more than 18,000 school districts and supports roughly 49 million students nationwide. In 2024, the department’s budget of $268 billion was about four percent of the total US federal spending, with the main Education Department spending going towards Financial Aid, including grants and student loans. Though the Department of Education has received consistent Republican opposition in the years since its enactment, no president has taken such direct action to dismantle it as President Trump.
The process of dismantling the Department of Education involves shutting down or relocating a number of key education-related programs and firing most of the staff that run them. One of these such programs is the Title I program, which supports school districts with a large number of students from low-income families. Another is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act which helps school districts pay for special education services and establishes federal requirements schools need to follow while providing these services. The Title II program, also under consideration for elimination, supports school districts in providing teacher training and professional development.
In 2025, the Trump Administration appointed Linda McMahon, most known for co-founding and presiding over World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a global media and entertainment company, as the new Secretary of Education, the enactor of this proposed department shutdown. McMahon has vowed to pursue the goal of “‘sending education back to the states where it so rightly belongs’” (US Department of Education, 2025 Statement).
As for Hastings itself, if the changes proposed in the executive order were to be enacted, our schools will most likely receive less funding for special education services, as well as teacher training and professional development. Hastings schools would also likely not have to adhere to a set of federal requirements, a change put in place to, according to McMahon, “unshackle” teachers from “burdensome regulations and paperwork,” such as federal reporting requirements tied to programs like Title I funding and documentation schools must complete to demonstrate compliance with federal policies and regulations.
The current state of the Department of Education is complicated and ever-changing, in part due to the legal challenges President Trump is encountering, as well as the checks and balances still involved in the process. As William McKersie, the Superintendent of the Hastings-On-Hudson Union Free School District, explains, “there’s been a lot of aggressive talk, but the action has not been there.” Several states—led by New York—sued after the Trump administration attempted to cut roughly half of the Department of Education’s staff, arguing it was an illegal effort to dismantle a congressionally created agency. Further, a federal judge initially blocked the layoffs and ordered employees reinstated, but the Supreme Court later allowed the cuts to proceed temporarily while the case continues. Additional lawsuits claim the administration violated administrative law by making major structural changes without proper legal process. Additionally, formally shutting down the Department of Education is a move that would ultimately require congressional approval. This legal action has effectively slowed and complicated efforts to restructure the department but hasn’t permanently stopped the process.
Today, just over a year since the release of the executive order, communities across the US are grappling with the instability that the uncertainty around these policies has created. While Hastings has not been markedly affected by these proposed changes, the executive order has created an undercurrent of uncertainty and anxiety. To Norah Destin, the Student State Board of Education Liaison, “everything feels mostly the same,” but she believes that there are changes “happening behind the scenes.” Essentially, as Dr. McKersie explains, “even if these federal changes don’t ultimately come to fruition, the discussion and uncertainty themselves create instability.” One of these changes that Norah has noticed is that “it feels like special education is becoming less recognized,” though she thinks that “Hastings is doing a fairly good job.” Though unrelated to the federal funding, in the past year, Hastings has lost two special education educators who worked directly in the high school, Dr. Tesfa Stewart and Erin Dolan. Though, as Dr. McKersie states, “we have not seen any decrease in funding, whether through special education (IDEA) or Title I,” the impacts of President Trump’s executive order are subtle but pervasive, “a source of instability,” as Dr. McKersie phrases it, but not a drastic change at this point in time.
While discussing the effects on the Hastings school district, it is important to recognize that while Hastings may feel some minor instability due to these proposed changes, other districts that rely more heavily on federal funding will be impacted much more significantly by any changes to the Department of Education. As Norah shares, the main concern people have right now is funding because, as she puts it, “less funding leads to less recognition and support.” In her experience as a Student State Board of Education Liaison, Norah has noticed that “special education programs vary a lot across New York State. Some schools have stronger programs, and others have weaker ones.” This disparity mirrors ones seen across the country, largely linked to the amount of funding a district gets. As Norah says, “there are definitely other schools that have it worse [than Hastings]” and would be “more affected” by the changes proposed in Trump’s executive order. As Dr. McKersie notes, Hastings has “a strong property tax base” and therefore relies on “almost no federal money.” In contrast, “low income districts…are far more dependent on state and federal money than we are.” This dependence puts already disadvantaged districts in a much more vulnerable position than Hastings amidst this time of uncertainty.
With President Trump’s executive order still entangled in the legal process, it has not yet produced any concrete changes to the Department of Education. So far, the biggest effect of the executive order is the instability that uncertainty around these policies has caused. As Dr. McKersie shares, “There is strong bipartisan support for programs like special education and Title I, which makes major cuts unlikely.” Still, even minor changes to the Department of Education can affect communities, especially underfunded ones, in serious and damaging ways. Because of this, Norah notes that “a lot of students are worried about what the administration is going to do in the future.” As Dr. McKersie highlights, “even without actual policy changes, this environment is a source of instability and distraction. It pulls focus away from what we should be concentrating on—maximizing teaching and learning for students.” This, he believes, is “the last thing we need when trying to educate young people.”