We Must Defend the Department of Education

By Marc H. Morial, The St. Louis American

“Today’s signing fulfills a longstanding personal commitment on my part. My first public office was as a county school board member. As a state senator and governor, I devoted much of my time to education issues. I remain convinced that education is one of the noblest enterprises a person or a society can undertake.” — President Jimmy Carter

President Carter’s words, upon signing the bill to create the U.S. Department of Education in 1979, ring louder today than ever before.

In a stunning act of political retribution and ideological extremism, the Trump campaign and its allies have launched a crusade to dismantle the Department of Education. The attacks are not just symbolic — they are existential. Executive orders, lawsuits and budgetary sabotage aim to gut the department’s authority, revoke billions in funding and leave America’s students — especially our most vulnerable — without the federal oversight and protection they deserve.

The National Urban League categorically condemns this reckless and unlawful effort. In our most recent statement, we made it plain: eliminating the Department of Education would not only be a disastrous policy, but a direct assault on educational equity, civil rights and the future of economic mobility in this country.

Just this month, the department abruptly halted nearly $3 billion in pandemic-era recovery funds meant to help districts recover learning loss, support mental health and stabilize staffing. This sudden move, reportedly linked to political efforts to weaken the agency’s power, puts millions of students at risk — disproportionately Black, brown and low-income children.

 

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