The current presidential administration has brought changes within the United States government, including changes within the Department of Education (ED), can be confusing, and with all the uncertainty about what these changes may bring to students and teachers, they can begin to grasp these reforms and understand how the reformations in current education may affect their everyday lives in school, and what the future of education may be.
With all of the current attention, concerns and unknowns surrounding the Department of Education and its future, comprehending what the U.S. Education Department can be is a first step to understanding. Founded in 1979 by the late President Jimmy Carter and later passed by the United States Congress, the Department of Education is a federal department that assists local and state-level school administrators and teachers.
According to the current website, the Department of Education, “Establishes policy for, administers, and coordinates most federal assistance to education.”
The website also stated, “Education is primarily a state and local responsibility in the United States but ED provides funds that help schools and districts reach their goals.”
The Department of Education has been mentioned a lot in the news recently, making the public eager to know what is going to happen to the federal department.
“As part of the Department of Education’s final mission, the Department today initiated a reduction in force (RIF) impacting nearly 50 percent of the Department’s workforce. Impacted Department staff will be placed on administrative leave beginning Friday, March 21.”
The website later stated, “The U.S. Department of Education is the agency of the federal government that establishes policy for, administers and coordinates most federal assistance to education. It assists the president in executing his education policies for the nation and in implementing laws enacted by Congress.”
The office of Jefferson Shreve declined to comment on the state of the ED. However, Indiana Senator Greg Walker explained some of the changes in the Education Department.
“As of April 2025, the U.S. Department of Education is undergoing significant reconstruction, including substantial staff reductions, a freeze on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) grants and a mandate requiring K-12 schools to certify compliance with federal civil rights laws to receive funding,” Walker said. “This all takes place amidst ongoing legal challenges and debates over the department’s future role.”
With these changes, there are many unknowns and confusion concerning the future of school districts, as Senator Walker believes.
“It is hard to say how dismantling it will change our educational system, as the responsibility for education policy would shift toward the states,” Walker said. “However, it could lead to fragmented policies, inconsistent funding and diminished federal oversight on a state by state basis.”
BCSC Superintendent Dr. Chad Phillips explains how much of BCSC relies on government funding: both federal and state.
Government funding makes up part of the money for public schools, as Phillips explains, whose roles specifically rely on federal funding from the government.
“There’s only a handful – a few teachers – that are being directly paid from federal funds in the district. So it’s not a huge number of teachers,” Phillips said. “But the thing about federal funds when it comes to education is that all federal funds are directly targeting students that need it more. So our federal funds go to our special education department, our Title 1 elementary schools that have the highest levels of poverty, and to our students who speak English as a new language.”
But the teachers and the programs that are provided using federal funds are not the only things possibly affected. While a smaller percentage of students are enrolled in these programs, students not enrolled in these programs may believe that these cuts don’t affect them, but this may not be the case, as federal funds cover more than what people may think. Students may not realize that they could be affected by the loss of federal funds.
“Most people don’t know that all of our support for, or the vast majority of our support for our food services department and our cafeteria comes from the federal government,” Phillips said. “That’s not a state program.”
Phillips believes that BCSC will be able to more easily glide through these reformations than some believe.
“There would have to be a change that’s so dramatic that we wouldn’t be able to absorb,” Phillips said. “We are a big district, depending on the year, the 15th largest district in the state. And that can be a detriment sometimes, but in a situation like this, it can be an asset because we can more easily absorb those kinds of changes.”
Phillips notes what could happen to BCSC schools if these changes expand and there are more drawbacks in federal funding to public schools.
“We manage our money very well and we maintain a cash balance to make sure that something like the elimination of a program at a federal level does not impact us right away,” Phillips said. “We can use the cash that’s on hand to make sure we can keep serving students while we plan for a year or two years down the road.”
The federal funding drawbacks could help some districts. Phillips predicts what may happen if the federal funds reduced the amount given to states.
“There’s a possibility that if the federal Department of Education eliminated or dramatically reduced in size that the money that is not going toward the money that worked there, the money could be allocated to the states to distribute to schools,” Phillips said. “So we could be in the position in two years from now where we actually see an increase in how much we have to support those populations that I mentioned earlier.”
Phillips emphasized he is dedicated to making sure that BCSC has resources and a plan to keep schools running smoothly. While there is no board or committee in charge of regulating these changes, he believes that BCSC will continue to go about business as usual, at least on a student scale.
“I think our legislators, Senator Walker and Representative Lauer, are interested in making sure we don’t have to reduce any services our students are receiving right now,” Phillips said.
As for possible changes in the classroom, teachers are at the forefront. Some teachers do believe that the reforms in the Department of Education will have an effect on schools, both on teachers and on students. Physics teacher Dr. Kyle Hagner believes that the changes in the department are a “foolish if not malevolent action that will harm many students in low-income and rural areas.”
Social studies teacher Taylor Decker also believes that many students may begin to feel these changes in the upcoming future.
“I am most worried about how this impacts students,” Decker said. “Rural schools that might struggle with funding and students that receive services are where most of the impact will be felt the most based on my understanding.”
Hagner believes that the dismantling of the department will bring more harm than good.
“Dismantling the ED will likely cause the most harm to students in low-income and rural schools that depend on funding from the federal government through programs like Title I or the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP),” Hagner said. “It can also impact students with special needs and those who need federal loans to subsidize higher education. I think that this move will further increase inequality when it comes to access to education in this country.”
With the changes in the ED, concerns about curricula and learning standards arise, leaving some teachers to question whether or not they will need to change their lessons. Hagner predicts that while his curriculum may not be affected, some curricula may be changed and altered.
“Most of my curriculum will probably not be subject to any political censorship, but I think in many states there will be pressure placed on teachers to avoid teaching about a number of topics, including climate change/global warming, biological evolution, the legacy of slavery and white supremacy in our nation’s history, and more,” Hagner said.
Decker expresses his thoughts on whether or not these changes and revisions will affect his curriculum in the future.
“Since standards for classes are created by each state, I do not see this changing what is taught,” Decker said. “I am curious how this might change over time, as each state might have more freedom.”
With these concerns of changing curriculum among teachers, students will also experience the changes that may come if the curriculum changes. An anonymous seniorshared their thoughts on whether or not they will be affected by the changes.
“I mean, we all are affected by the termination of education, by being students,” anonymous said. “By being in the public school system, we’re especially severely affected by the policies that the department sets, which then the states must follow, which then go to our direct policies. So any negatives in the cut off, like budgets for the department or staffing, doesn’t allow for us to have as appropriate of an education as possible.”
Senior Mya Chaille expressed their thoughts on the importance of the Department of Education as a whole.
“I think that the Department of Education is a necessary government agency, because I think public education is a privilege, and without it, your citizens are not very informed about things and they don’t know how to navigate the world,” Chaille said. “So, it’s good for that to be standardized across the U.S. so that different political agendas don’t have a hand in how people are educated.”
Along with many changes in public schooling, seniors wishing and planning to go to college should be aware of what these changes may bring to colleges.
“Since the freeze has been deemed unconstitutional, or for now and it’s going to be under review, that has kind of helped me for this year,” the anonymous senior said. “However, going into next year, I do not believe I will be able to access that money, which I might not need as much as other students need going into college, especially with our inflation and economic status going into next year. But, it is really unfortunate that it happens, of course, during my senior year.”
Through all these changes, Dr. Phillips believes that BCSC schools will continue to thrive despite any challenges that may or may not come.
“We will work with our partners to make sure that our students don’t feel an impact, or a negative impact, I should say,” Phillips said, “from any of the changes that happen in a place that happens frankly quite away from our school building.”
