Originally published at: Demolishing The Dept. Of Education Dumps Fuel On A Public Ed Crisis Already Underway
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. As far as most American families were concerned, schools’ post-pandemic reopening brought an end to an era of uncertainty in public education. In reality, the end of that era was never all that clearly defined. Now, as the Trump administration sweeps into…
1 Like
Red states, i.e. states that voted primarily for Trump, will suffer the most. So, that means that Trump and his administration are attacking his base, or one could say that they are “shooting themselves in the foot.”
8 Likes
I do not believe Red States suffer from stupidity they encourage it and their voters love it. 
8 Likes
Mr. Genius Tech Overlord complains about lazy uneducated American males while making sure that they remain that way. So solution oriented!
10 Likes
Any other teachers freaking out yet? I teach a quasi-elective. I am extremely worried about my job. My district is mostly self-funded and doesn’t get much federal money but they get some and they get some state money, too.
10 Likes
No brain, no pain, no thought no feeling.
5 Likes
“I love the poorly educated”.
6 Likes
They’ll be allowed to go begging.
2 Likes
They don’t give a rat’s ass about consequences. tRump is term-limited (so far) and can just spend the next 3+ years breaking stuff (along with Muskrat/Wormtongue). Cruelty and carnage are the goals that Stephen Miller dreams wetly about.
9 Likes
Any public school teacher not freaking out must be retiring after this school year. The public education arena has been on a steady downturn for a number of years now for many reasons. My wife is a retired educator and both of my daughters have been teaching for more than 15 years. Sunday night dinners can get quite loud when the topic is “How was your week?”
11 Likes
Red States, more than “suffering from stupidity” suffer from being racist.
But before getting to that, what should never be forgotten when discussing Public Education is that Public Education more than anything else is a necessary requirement for Capitalism.
The book Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, and published in 1776 (another reason to remember that year) is what every serious economist agrees is the definition of Capitalism.
The longest chapter in Wealth of Nations is the need for Public Schools because without Public Schools instead of Capitalism you have Feudalism.
So all people who say or care about living in a Capitalist nations should be screaming about what Trump and Republicans are doing to Public Schools.
Now back to why Red State voters are all for gutting Public Schools especially when the discussion is about Federal involvement. It comes down to the point made several times that Trump did not create his base but rather Red State voters created Donald Trump.
If you ever read the State Constitution of Alabama, you will notice that it mandates “Separate but Equal Public Schools”. That is in many Red States this is the same fight that has been going on since before the Civil War.
Or to put another way, there should be no doubt how many Red States will react if the Federal Government is no longer involved in Public Schools. In many Red States we will see a return to schools before Brown v Board of Education. Furthermore, there should also be little doubt about how the current Supreme Court will react.
Public Schools were at the forefront of the Civil Rights movement in America. The decision by the Carter Administration to withhold Federal funding to schools that openly practiced racial discrimination is the very reason for the Moral Majority and religious right movement.
Or as others have said, the overwhelming support for Donald Trump by White Evangelical Christians, noting the overwhelming majorities of Blacks are themselves Evangelical Christians and vote over 90% for Democrats, proves that “VALUES” in front of the word VOTER is and has always been code for race.
In my opinion, it is this “VALUE” racial prejudice, that has Red State voters specifically opposing Federal involvement in schools and Public Schools in general even though it means they are also opposing Capitalism.
9 Likes
Proof positive that the goal is an uneducated public. It’s no longer shocking; it has become alarming. Will anyone stop this lawlessness?
5 Likes
All of this is a roundabout way of pouring public money into religious schools, specifically those operated by evangelicals.
They are gutting the public purse in the name of the church.
5 Likes
I’m a 12th grade teacher in a suburban Philly district. My district needs to increase taxes for necessary maintenance in one of the buildings. The board is not getting along with each other while for once we have a responsible superintendent.
Our contract runs to 2028 and it’s a good contract but with federal funding in question and the state always letting the budget go til August, I think there may be cuts.
So…
8 Likes
Here comes their full scale attempt to corporatize the public school system. Vouchers for all. IDEA funds sent to parents as block grants to spend as the choose and our most vulnerable kids will be left in the failing public schools. No oversight of special education by the federal government means States will flout the IDEA law. It will be a disaster. So many parents of kids with disabilities have no idea how any of this works and many of them are MAGA and want to believe that the federal government was responsible for the failings of their school systems. It’s a tragedy.
10 Likes
Education schmeducation. Donald J. Trump is now the most powerful person on Earth (for the second time!) and he never did a lick of homework the entire time he was forced to attend school.
Schools are for suckers and losers. Just like the civil service…and the military.
This is literally the mindset we’re up against. (paired with the wealthiest person in the world – now in charge of most of the federal government-- just itchng to establish Nazi-friendly apartheid regimes worldwide.)
6 Likes
This is so disheartening and infuriating. We have a large segment of the parenting population who are actively fighting against the chance for their children to do better than they have. A shared core value of so many who emigrated to this country. As @dangoodbar notes above from Adam Smith “because without Public Schools instead of Capitalism you have Feudalism”. I’ve advocated for year that if this country is, in fact, great, the public education system is one of the foundational blocks of that greatness.
This nation is so fucking blind.
I have to step away from this for awhile.
7 Likes
I worry about those special education teachers who are funded by the feds. I worry about the pre-k and kindergarten teachers who are funded by the feds. I worry about the English as a second language teachers who teach English to students. They just may not have a job when convicted felon is done.
And if you think that the private and religious schools will welcome theses students, think again. They will claim they don’t have the time or resources that these kids need even if those parents have vouchers.
Public school districts will be forced to raise property taxes or close school buildings. And this admin will probably make it really hard for parents to apply for vouchers and probably will demand proof of citizenship along with other hoops to jump.
7 Likes
My son is a special education elementary school teacher, It is also a school with a high poverty rate. Granddaughter teaches a kindergarten class. Other granddaughter teaches a special education preschooler class. Daughter-in-law teaches special education elementary students.
I heard that special ed funding could be taken away
Everyday brings bad news.
6 Likes
Fun Fact (from Bluesky)
…the military spent $52 million between 2014 and 2025 on gender dysphoria treatments for troops — so an average of $5 million a year. According to Judge Reyes, the military spends $42 million a year on Viagra treatments.
… and that guy would sure like a little break soon!
3 Likes