ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — Nearly two dozen states are suing the Trump administration over major cuts to the Department of Education (DOE).
Democratic attorneys general in twenty states and Washington, D.C. filed a federal lawsuit alleging the administration is gutting the agency in order to unlawfully dismantle the department.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced it is cutting nearly half of the department’s staff.
President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating the DOE altogether, saying education belongs to the states.
Darzell Warren, president of the Escambia Education Association, says more and more teachers are asking how dismantling the DOE would impact their jobs. She says her biggest issue, right now, is they all feel left in the dark about their future.
Trump appears to be closing in on a campaign promise to dismantle the DOE, giving the sole responsibility to each state.
“We want education to be moved back where the states run education,” said Trump said. “…where the parents of the children will be running education, where governors that are doing a very good job will be running education.”
The DOE provides federal funding for school districts in need and oversees more than $1.5 trillion in student loans.
This week the education department announced they’re cutting staff in half, sending notice to more than 1,300 employees.
“When we cut, we want to cut, but we want to cut the people that aren’t working or not doing a good job,” said Trump. “We’re keeping the best people.”
While the president says the cuts will be strategic, it’s unclear what plan is in place for the DOE’s budget.
In 2024, the DOE made up 4% in federal spending in 2024. The Florida Policy Institute reports the state received $6.7 billion that year, more than 17% of the state’s funding.
“What people need to understand is our state and local entities already pick up a majority of the money,” Warren said. “But we also get money from the federal government. So, if they were to take all that money, the state would have to find a way to cover it.”
After multiple school administrators in Northwest Florida declined to go on-camera Thursday, saying they’ve received no guidance on the issue from the state or federal government, WEAR News sat down with Warren.
Warren says confusion is mounting in schools across Escambia County, saying politics is playing too big a role in our schools.
“Are people going to be able to access these grants that parents are able to get access to,” Warren said. “I mean how are states going to know we’re supposed to get this much money. There was just no thinking about how this was going to be done.”
Warren says not all are discouraged over the move, explaining why she feels many teachers support the idea.
WEAR: What do you say to those that say he’s doing a good thing? That this is what we need, to dismantle the Dept. of Education? That nothing’s gotten better? And like you’ve told me, some teachers are supporting the idea.
Warren: I think part of this is everyone should look at it from a viewpoint of taking politics out of it. Take politics out of it and ask, is this good?
“If you’re really looking for waste, then take your time,” Warren said. “Go in and find the waste and say we need to cut back here and here. Don’t take away half your staff and say, ‘We saved some money!’ That’s a drop in the bucket.”
Because the DOE was created by Congress, the president doesn’t have the power to close the agency. It can only be closed or its functions transferred by an act of Congress.
The same goes for the largest programs under the agency, like the individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, which gave $16 billion to the state of Florida last year.