These past weeks the Department of Education has faced tremendous budget cuts that have impacted important research by the Trump administration, who found the department ineffective and unnecessary.
More than 700 people involved in social science research unaffiliated with the government have lost their jobs as a result. Its timing is quite ironic, as the arrival of these layoffs come right after federal test scores announce that student reading and math scores are at historically low levels. The Trump administration used this as evidence of the “failure” of the Department of Education and proof that funding should be heavily reduced.
The research arm of the Department of Education, The Institute of Education Sciences, had already experienced reductions with Elon Musk announcing that cuts totaled over $900 million dollars. Particular research cuts, including a project that analyzed the types of support most helpful to mentoring high schoolers with disabilities, have severely impacted progress. This study monitored high schoolers transitioning to independent living and will no longer be able to provide valuable conclusions and insight for programs, including Costa’s Special Education Services.
“While I do feel like it is important for people to have their own opinions, I don’t think it’s right for others to force their ideologies on others and cut their funding,” Costa Junior Kimaya Matai said. “I feel like people deserve to be able to read the books they want to read, learn what they are interested in when they’re in school, and have access to support.”
One Special Education Service class Costa provides in particular, Special Day Class (SDC) Basic Skills (Independent Living Skills), aids students in developing basic skills in living, academics, recreation, and leisure for future employment. While the program will continue to address reading, math, and social skills, these recent budget cuts hinder the full development and flourishment of these programs.
To add on, the Trump Administration began to target college institutions this month as well; they pulled $400 million from Columbia on March 7 after claiming the Ivy League school failed to quell protests that encouraged anti-semitism. Costa students that are striving for these schools may want to rethink their decision to do so if the programs they are interested in are no longer being funded.
“I feel like it is unfair for the administration to deem certain protests as “illegal” as they allow students to express their opinions at their campus. As long as they are nonviolent, I think that protesters are fine,” Matai said.
Likewise, Johns Hopkins announced on March 13 that they would be parting ways with over 2,200 employees due to loss of funding from USAID. Such employees are located all over the globe in support of the university’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, its medical school, and an affiliated nonprofit organization.
Ty Lockwood, former Costa student and current Johns Hopkins first year, expressed his concern over this situation and highlighted the impact on these budget cuts. While the Trump administration particularly disapproved of federally funded research exploring race and gender, many of the terminated projects were uncontroversially important in examining student well-being.
“It doesn’t seem like they currently care about these issues but I don’t think they realize the significance of the connections Hopkins has with the world through local care and global health equity,” says Lockwood. “The government also might believe that research is a future generation’s problem, but cutting it also hinders our ability to address new health crises currently happening.”
Trump and his administration recently pledged to cut budgets on institutions opposing his stance on issues such as D.E.I. programs, transgender athlete rights, and “illegal” student protests. Over 35,000 jobs were added in the realm of higher education, so it seems contradictory that Trump undoing this after promising to create more jobs during his campaign.
“It’s sad because the main reason for the budget cuts is Hopkins’ international and public health outreach, which the current administration views as inefficiency in government spending. I’m pretty sure Hopkins receives about half its funding from USAID so I fear the effects will soon be apparent.”
Soon, the Education Department will be left with a size half as large as it was just a month ago. These cuts have already faced state pushback, including a lawsuit led by New York Attorney General Leticia James to prevent the unraveling of the Education Department. She finds this harmful “especially low-income students and those with disabilities who rely on federal funding.”
This is just the start, as federal budget cuts have not yet hit public schools like Costa. “Unfortunately I’m not too optimistic on change but I hope the repercussions I perceive and students from Mira Costa do not come to reality,” Lockwood said.
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