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Marcus Mrowka is an education leader and school board member in Camden.
Anyone who cares about fiscal responsibility should read the fine print of President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. Not only would this move likely inflict needless harm on Maine children, but it would likely raise local taxes on Maine families while potentially delivering massive tax breaks to billionaires.
Maine schools received $250 million in federal funding this school year. That money goes directly to supporting Maine students. The funding supports children from low-income families and students with disabilities, ensuring schools have the educators and interventions critical to leveling the playing field for these students. It finances a big portion of school meals, making sure children are fed and ready to learn. It supports robust Career and Technical Education programs which provide a critical pathway to good jobs in the trades, healthcare, and industries facing critical workforce shortages in Maine. And, it provides financial aid and work-study programs for students in college and trade programs.
Eliminating this funding won’t create efficiency, but it would eliminate opportunity for Maine children.
Without this federal funding, Maine children would likely go to schools with more crowded classrooms and fewer resources. Children with disabilities and special needs will lose out on the care and extra support they need to thrive. Children in poverty, the very children who have fallen behind the most since the pandemic, would have fewer ways to get ahead.
Slashing nutrition funding would make it harder to sustain Maine’s game-changing commitment to universal school meals for all children. School districts will likely be forced to put off critical maintenance and infrastructure projects that create safe and healthy learning spaces.
Students from working- and middle-class families won’t get critical need-based financial aid. And students who don’t want to go to college would likely have fewer pathways to good-paying jobs. Maine would likely have fewer electricians, plumbers, nursing assistants, and automotive technicians because of these cuts.
Trump’s plan also comes with a less-reported side effect. To compensate for the loss of federal funds, many school districts across Maine would be forced to increase local school budgets to comply with federal laws and provide children with an adequate education. This means higher costs for local Maine taxpayers.
School budgets in Maine are already stretched to their breaking point, mostly driven by skyrocketing operational and facilities costs. As a member of my local school board, I know firsthand the struggle faced by school administrators and boards to keep school budgets as fair to taxpayers as possible while also delivering on the promise of public school to enable opportunity and a bright future for each and every child who comes through our doors.
The taxpayer money that President Trump and Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire, want to take from children likely won’t be used to save American taxpayers or make government more efficient. Trump and Musk need to find trillions of dollars to pay for tax breaks that primarily benefit the rich that they support, and that’s likely where this education funding would go. They apparently believe American taxpayers fund a giant piggy bank that they can crack open and spend on themselves and their friends with no regard for the rule of law or the needs of children and families.
Simply put, Trump and Musk are seemingly raiding government agencies like the U.S. Department of Education to funnel money away from students and into the pockets of the wealthy. And working- and middle-class families will likely be stuck with the bill with higher local tax increases.
Many Americans voted for President Trump because he promised to decrease living costs. Nothing about dismantling the Department of Education is likely to drive down the cost of eggs or make it more affordable to raise a family.
It’s incumbent upon Congress to assert its authority and preserve funding for children and schools — funding they’ve already appropriated. Maine children and taxpayers depend on it.