March 24 2025.
HONOLULU – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, released the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
“One of the federal government’s core trust and treaty responsibilities to American Indians, Native Hawaiians, and Alaska Natives is to provide education. The Department of Education plays a critical role in Native education, on everything from special education and Impact Aid to Native language revitalization. Without a functional Department of Education, Native students – more than 90 percent of whom attend public schools – will be at the mercy of state governments that have no legal responsibility to meet their needs. That’s why President Trump’s plan to dismantle the Department is a betrayal of a sacred federal promise, and we have a duty to fight this reckless plan and protect Native students,” said Vice Chairman Schatz.
More than 92% of Native students attend public and charter K-12 schools, not Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools, as Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has incorrectly claimed.
Abolishing ED would be devastating for Native students and schools across the country. It would slash funding for protected populations, including Native students in public, charter, and BIE schools who rely on critical resources like Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) special education services, Impact Aid, English Language Learner supports, and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Title VI Indian education programs. It would also mean less dedicated funding for teachers, sports, building repairs, school meal programs, transportation, and after-school tutoring/activities—leaving Native students with fewer educational opportunities.
For rural Native students, eliminating ED would lead to fewer choices and greater instability. High-poverty and smaller schools, especially those in rural Native communities, are at greater risk of closing if enrollment drops below a set minimum.
The damage would extend to Native higher education as well. Native students rely on federal loans and Pell Grants to afford college, with ED playing a key role in administering these programs. Without it, access to these funds would be severely limited. Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), which depend on federal dollars for nearly three-quarters of their funding, could face catastrophic cuts if states decide not to maintain critical funding—pushing many to the brink of collapse and jeopardizing educational opportunities for future generations."
A non-partisan review of this latest Executive Order shows that the affect of the end of the Department of Education will most likely have no economic impact to JKL Bahweting Anishnabe School and Bay Mills Community College. However the results of this latest EO are months from being determined. Just as all Trump's Executive Orders have been challenged in U.S. Federal Courts, the American Association of University Professors and others have already filed to have the order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education revoked.
We predict that as a result of the court filing no immediate changes will be seen in tribal schools and most likely even if the Trump Administration wins in court they will accommodate all tribe's educational funding responsibilities.
While it appears to some that Secretary of Education Linda McMahon did not take the time to flush out a real operational plan for the proposed changes in funding procedures when attempting to shutter the Department of Education that does not mean that funding for our children will not be provided.
Senator Schatz along with the traditional corporate main-stream media and social media junkies remind us of little children that are easily manipulated into over reacting without realizing that was the plan all along.
Unfortunately those wishing to protect the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Taxpayers are now forced into spending thousands of dollars on legal fees with no end in sight instead of attempting to work together to improve our broken educational system. In our view, that money could easily be put to better use, like paying down debt so our great grandchildren are not burdened with it.
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