President Thursday afternoon to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon has called this dismantling the department's "final mission" while championing non-public school options like charter and private schools.
The Department of Education cannot legally close without congressional approval, and McMahon says local schools will still get federal financial support.
Still, Trump's action along with the massive layoffs in the federal department, , have school leaders in the Cincinnati area 鈥� especially ones in poorer urban communities and small towns that rely more on federal funding 鈥� worried about the future of their school systems.
'The latest attack on public education'
Cincinnati Public Schools receives 22% of its total funding from the Department of Education, which is higher than most districts in Ohio. Recent figures show more than $190 million from the federal government went toward the annual budget for CPS.
CPS Superintendent Shauna Murphy says she's certain Trump's order will negatively impact the district.
"President Trump's executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education is the latest attack on public education nationwide and comes as Ohio's public schools already face a funding crisis due to proposed state cuts that jeopardize essential resources and student success," Murphy said in a statement. "These cuts will force districts like CPS to either place a greater burden on local taxpayers or cut critical programs and services. Public education must remain a priority for lawmakers, ensuring equitable funding that serves all students, not just a select few."
Other urban districts 鈥� like Mt. Healthy City Schools and Middletown City Schools, where almost all their students are considered to be economically disadvantaged by the state 鈥� rely heavily upon federal money. Education Department funds make up more than 22% of Mt. Healthy's budget and over 21% of Middletown's total budget.
Further outside the cities, small-town school districts like Wilmington City Schools may also see their funding affected. Last school year, Wilmington received more than $9 million in federal funding, about 24% of the total budget of just over $37.5 million.
In response to "everything happening in Columbus and Washington concerning public education" the Talawanda Board of Education and the Oxford League of Women Voters will hold a community forum Monday, March 24, at 6 p.m. at Talawanda High School's Performing Arts Center. The focus will be on how recent decisions at the state and national level could impact the district.
While the U.S. Department of Education isn't officially gone yet, roughly half its staff has already been placed on administrative leave. 海角社区 reports only three employees remain at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which previously stood at more than 100 employees at the start of 2025.
Criticism from the right
This massive reduction in force even has proponents of Trump's education overhaul questioning the logic of some of the administration's cuts.
Following the announcement of department layoffs last week, Mike Petrilli, president of the Fordham Institute, a conservative Ohio think tank, shared his thoughts on the sweeping move.
Petrilli wrote that he felt bad for the laid-off employees and called the mass firings without an evaluation of each employee's performance a disappointment. He also criticized the administration's cuts to NCES.
"I wish the Trump (and DOGE) folks had done more to protect the Institute for Education Sciences, and especially its National Center for Education Statistics. If there鈥檚 any part of the federal role that has enjoyed broad bipartisan support for basically forever, it鈥檚 research and data collection. Here鈥檚 hoping IES finds smart ways to boost efficiency and effectiveness so that crucial enterprise doesn鈥檛 suffer," he wrote.
Petrilli's note still shifted some of the blame for the department's dismantling onto the Biden administration, which he claims "hugged" government employee unions, which allowed "ineffective" employees to stay employed, and failed to protect "higher performing" workers.
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