Mayer: Ditching Department of Ed will have dire consequences for state

By JEFF MORRIS

State Sen. Shelley Mayer, a Democrat who is chair of the New York State Senate Committee on Education and whose district includes Pound Ridge, is warning of the potential impact of President Donald Trump’s executive order dismantling the U.S. Department of Education.

“I am deeply disturbed and distressed by President Trump’s reckless and unconstitutional Executive Order — one that once again oversteps his authority — to dismantle the United States Department of Education,” she said in a statement last week. “This action will have severe and devastating consequences for children and young adults across the country.”

In a conversation with The Recorder on Wednesday, though, Mayer updated her warning, advising of negative effects that have already occurred as a result of actions set in motion by Trump.

“Since I wrote the press release, a number of specific things have happened, with either withholding or delay of money, along with a significant reduction in staff at the USDOE,” she said. “It started with 4,133 employees, and with the next wave it should go down to 2,183, so they’re cutting about half.”

Food for schools

Mayer said the Local Food for Schools cooperative agreement, which gives money for schools to buy locally grown and sourced fresh food for school meals programs — a state program funded by the feds — has had a $27 million cut. “That’s a direct impact on New York state schools,” she said.

According to a March 13 CBS MoneyWatch report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is cutting two federal programs that provided about $1 billion in funding to schools and food banks to buy food directly from local farms, ranchers and producers. The agency said it was a decision to “return to long-term, fiscally responsible initiatives.” In recent days, said the CBS report, schools were alerted that they were set to lose $660 million in federal funding for the current year, according to Diane Pratt-Heavner, director of media relations for the School Nutrition Association, which represents thousands of school meal employees. The withdrawal of funding will affect schools across the U.S. at a time when they’re already grappling with high food costs, Pratt-Heavner said.

On March 21, Gov. Kathy Hochul said the Universal School Meals Program she had announced earlier this year, which was partially funded by the federal government and would have provided free breakfast and lunch to almost 3 million students regardless of their family’s income, was in jeopardy. She said removing funding for the program would be a $2 billion loss for New Yorkers. On March 22, the New York Post reported that a program that provided New York City students with fresh fruit and vegetable snacks would be cancelled for the rest of the school year, effective March 31.

Other cuts

Mayer also noted that the Institute of Museum and Library Services at the USDOE has been eliminated by executive order. 

“That provided $8 million to the New York State Library, which is a resource to our Westchester Library System and other libraries for things that are in the state archives,” Mayer said.

On Tuesday, Mayer said, the state education department announced there was a delay, or withholding, of an additional $363 million in federal funds that was due as part of COVID-related outlays for schools.

“Those are some of the specific things that have happened already,” Mayer said. 

In her initial statement, Mayer noted that USDOE provides essential funding, and important leadership, to our schools through Title I funding targeted at schools serving low-income students, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding for students with disabilities, and critical Pell Grants for low-income college students. 

Eliminating USDOE

According to U.S. News & World Report, on March 20 Trump signed an executive order to “begin eliminating” the Department of Education — one that avoids claiming a disputed legal authority to dissolve the congressionally established agency but nevertheless pares back its role and its responsibilities. He said the Education Department’s “core necessities” — like duties related to the Pell Grant program, Title I funding and providing resources for children with disabilities and special needs — would be “fully preserved” but “redistributed to various other agencies and departments.” On March 21, Trump said the Small Business Administration will handle federal student loans, and the Department of Health and Human Services will take over programs for students with special needs.

While Mayer’s initial statement said the president lacked the authority to shut down the Department of Education without congressional action, the method he actually used appears designed to circumvent that argument.

“Certainly,” Mayer said, “the fear is, and the concern which I feel quite strongly is, that as programs get moved to other agencies — like Title I, IDEA, Pell Grants, and the regular college loans — there’s going to be a direct impact on New York constituents. Like, ‘Who do I call about my Pell Grant? Who do I call about IDEA money for students with disabilities in my district?’ I think there’s going to be much less accountability and ability to get answers.”

Mayer said one of the challenges is figuring out which federal agency is withholding specific money, and at whose direction. She is relying on the state education department to share information about things like the cuts in food and library funding, because at the federal level, “A lot of this is cloaked in secrecy.” 

And obtaining information from the state is also going to become more difficult, because 1,700 full-time employees at the state education department are at least partially financed by federal funds. 

“It’s not death by a thousand cuts,” said Mayer. “It’s death by big chunks of cuts.”

One consequence, said Mayer, is the elimination of places where parents can file complaints about discrimination. “The USDOE had a civil rights division where you could file a complaint. That’s been eliminated,” she said. “That is going to have an impact on regular New York parents who want to file a complaint. There’s not a place for that anymore.”

Additional consequences

“There’s another point,” said Mayer. “This concept that Trump enunciated that we’re returning education policy to the states, is really belied by the fact that in these executive orders, he actually gives orders to schools about what they can do about DEI, about sports; the kind of very specific rules that are counter to the argument that states are going to have their own policy. We are very clear that schools determine their own policy here, but there’s some overarching federal laws and guidance that have been available for students and families. That’s gone away with this concept that it’s local control; meanwhile he’s changed and created federal control.”

Mayer noted that right now, the legislature and governor are in the midst of negotiations to finalize the state budget, without regard to the anticipation of federal cuts across the board.

“We are doing this budget with the revenues we have now, and hopefully will finalize it by April 1,” she said. “I believe it is extremely likely we’re going to have to come back and address the shortfall — certainly in education, but health care is going to be an even bigger cut, if there are changes in Medicaid. We are going to have to figure out how to replace, supplement or make do with the lack of federal funds after we finish this budget.”