An Ignoble Experiment: School's Out Forever?

September 02, 2016

School's Out Forever?

Donald Trump has already #blessed us with several backwards speeches this week about immigration and foreign policy, and this Saturday he's gearing up for another ramble, this time about education. Surprising basically no one at this point, Donald Trump's plans for education are reckless (just like his plans in basically every other policy area). The (alleged) billionaire wants to help pay for his deficit-ballooning "billionaires-first" tax plan by eliminating or drastically cutting the Department of Education—that's right, the agency that helps ensure we have educated children in this country. His speech this weekend is supposed to be part of Trump's new outreach to African-American voters, to whom he has asked "what do you have to lose?" Black students stand to lose a lot under Trump's education plan, which would will deny Pell Grant to 2.7 million black students and eliminate Title I aid for 5.3 million black students in Pre-k through 12.

Here are a few more findings about the consequences Trump's education plan:

9 million low-income students would lose $15 billion of Title I funding annually

5 million children and students with disabilities would lose $12.7 billion used every year to ensure that they receive a quality education

750,000 or more students from military families, Native American students, students living in U.S. territories, and students living on federal property or Native American lands would lose $1.1 billion per year for their schools

4,000 or more rural school districts would lose more than $175 million used annually to help improve the quality of teaching and learning in many hard to staff schools

$700 million used by states to support the 5 million English language learners currently in public schools—representing close to 10 percent of all students—would be cut

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With high school graduation rates hitting all-time highs, dropout rates at historical lows, and college-going rates close to the highest they have ever been, more, not less, should be invested in public education to continue this growth. Trump's plan to sacrifice resources for America's students, particularly the most vulnerable, to pay for tax cuts that would unduly benefit the country's top earners is as shortsighted as it is callous.

Want to learn more? Check out the Center for American Progress Action Fund's full analysis and interactive map to see how Trump will affect your state's students. And check out our gif!

WHAT'S TRENDING

More bad cuts. Also on the chopping block so to pay for the rich getting richer is the Environmental Protection Agency—not super comforting to hear after the floods in Louisiana and the "life-threatening" Hurricane Hermine making landfall in Florida this morning. With climate change being linked to the increase in natural disasters, it doesn't seem like a great idea to cut the EPA.

Speaking of Florida. The first mosquitoes with Zika in the US were found in Miami according to announcements yesterday. And the CDC is running out of money to fight Zika and needs Congress Republicans to stop holding up the emergency funding, which President Obama requested back in February (once they're back in session from a seven-week vacation on Tuesday, of course.)

Labor Day. Remember as you're lounging during this weekend to thank a union for the holiday. Read up a bit on what unions do for workers and the middle class as you're packing up your white jeans and saying goodbye to summer.

Taco Tuesday, every day. A Trump surrogate warned that if Hillary Clinton is elected "you're gonna have taco trucks on every corner." Unclear how that's a bad thing.

Intersection of race and policing. 2016 has been a tough year. Too many lives, especially black lives, have been lost due to police brutality, affecting the trust between law enforcement and communities of color. And today, people of color are overrepresented at every point in the criminal justice system. There are policy responses to help bridge the divide and build trust between communities of color and law enforcement. Check out Danyelle Solomon's recommendations here.