Washington state’s top education official is speaking out against President Donald Trump’s long-awaited executive order calling for the dissolution of the U.S. Department of Education.
The order, which Trump signed at a White House ceremony Thursday, instructs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities.”
In a statement Thursday, Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal called the order an illegal overreach that, along with mass firings in the department last week, “underscores the President’s disregard for public education and civil rights.”
“What we are seeing in Washington, D.C. is a cruel chaos that has been intentionally designed to promote a school privatization agenda and undo a 60-year commitment to equity and civil rights that lies at the heart of our democratic system,” Reykdal wrote.
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Trump’s order also directs McMahon to ensure “the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.” But education leaders and Democrats across the country — including Reykdal — doubt that will be feasible with a smaller or eliminated federal education department.
Washington state Superintendent of Public Instruction, Chris Reykdal speaks at a news conference, Aug. 18, 2021, at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash.
Ted S. Warren / AP
Reykdal said Thursday it’s “not yet clear the extent of the harm that will occur with the dismantling of these important federal programs that work in tandem with my office’s enforcement authority.”
But, he said, the state should be ready to step in and help, especially if public schools lose federal funding. Washington state received $1.4 billion from the federal government for education during the 2023-24 school year, not including Covid relief funds.
While the bulk of K-12 school funding comes from state and local governments, cuts to federal funding could have big consequences, especially as schools across the state grapple with mounting financial challenges. Reykdal has already requested a $3-billion infusion for public education this legislative session for that reason.
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“In Washington state, and states across America, legislators need to be prepared to double down on their public education investments,” he wrote, “as the Department and this administration prepare to walk away from their civil rights obligations and the nearly 250-year commitment to public education that has actually made America great!”
In his statement, Reydal acknowledged that some federal education overreach has been pushed by presidents of both parties over the last 25 years, and said it should be scaled back and returned to the states.
But, Reykdal wrote, “that is a policy deliberation that should happen in Congress, and in partnership with the states themselves — not as part of an unprecedented attempt by a President to wield more authority than is granted by the U.S. Constitution or by federal law.”
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Washington state Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal speaks at a news conference Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021, at the Capitol in Olympia.
The U.S. Department of Education was created as a cabinet-level agency by an act of Congress in 1979. The department was meant to largely serve in an advisory capacity to schools, and more efficiently and effectively operate national education programs.
Republicans — and some Democrats — opposed the creation of the department from the beginning, over fears the federal government would interfere too much in local education issues and inflate an already ballooning democracy.
Today, the department has a broad range of responsibilities but does not control curriculum or policies at local schools or districts. Its overarching goal is to “promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access,” according to its website.
The agency operates the standardized test known as the “nation’s report card,” and collects data on things like enrollment and teacher salary and attrition.
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The department also enforces civil rights laws that bar discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, and other factors in federally funded schools. That enforcement is what Reykdal has said he’s most concerned about if the department is gutted or eliminated entirely. But he’s also expressed confidence that Washington is relatively safe from this threat, because state law goes “above and beyond the federal minimum protections.”
“No order by the President will diminish our state’s obligation or moral imperative to serve and support all students,” he wrote.
Additionally, DOE heads the $1.6 trillion federal student loan program and other grant programs for K-12 schools. The two largest ones are Title I, which provides supplemental funding to schools that serve a high proportion of low-income students, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which helps schools cover the costs of serving students who receive special education services.
While those grants are important funding sources for Washington districts, it’s a relative drop in the bucket compared to what districts get from state and local government sources. On average, federal funding accounts for only about 7% of Washington school districts’ revenue, according to Reykdal’s office.
Districts in rural areas tend to be more reliant on federal funding. The Nespelem School District in northeastern Washington, for example, gets about 44% of its funding from the feds, according to the state’s federal funding heat map.
“It is clear that the reduction of federal funding and the privatization of our school system will be most damaging in rural communities,” Reykdal wrote, “and this is a fight that every American needs to lean into.”
This is a developing story.