Educators in Texas are concerned about the Trump administration's plans to dismantle the Department of Education.

One of the Department's primary roles is to administer federal funding for K-12 schools.

Zeph Capo, president of the American Federation of Teachers-Texas, said more than 18% of the state's education budget comes from federal funding and potential cuts would affect many programs.

"$1.3 billion for special education students, $132 million additional for life skills work that may go beyond traditional pre-K-12, $126 million for before- and after-school programs," Capo outlined.

The education department also administers Title I money for students in rural and lower income communities. Capo stressed those students will be more heavily affected by the cuts.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate confirmed Linda McMahon as the new Secretary of the Department of Education. During her confirmation hearing, she said the public education system is in decline and vowed to reorient the department and invest in teachers. During a town hall meeting, Capo told teachers it is time to organize and take action.

"Contact your representative. You can find ways to do that on our website. You can make your way to the page where you can send an action letter," Capo explained. "The second thing is to submit an op-ed or a letter to the editor. Share your story with your elected officials, share your story with your community."

The president does not have the power to shutter the Education Department. It would take an act of Congress with 60 'yes' votes in the Senate.

By Kyla Russell for WISH-TV.
Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the WISH-TV-Free Press Indiana-Public News Service Collaboration

Congress has slashed a decades-old federal medical funding program by more than half.

The Indiana University School of Medicine could be one of the hardest organizations hit.

In 2023, the school was awarded $715,000 from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDRMP). As the largest medical school in the U.S., the university was tasked with using the money to improve treatment for mild traumatic brain injuries.

In March, Congress passed a bill that cuts the funding by 57%. The move is leaving doctors worried.

"I'm involved with the entire athletic department, which certainly includes the football team," Dr. Nicholas Port, an IU optometry professor, said recently. "I am quite involved in and was at practice today."

In addition to teaching and several other responsibilities, Post helps care for the school's top athletes. He also specializes in treating traumatic brain injuries.

"The CDRMP is a congressionally mandated research program in the Department of Defense," Port said. "It's been around for at least a decade or two, maybe more, and they fund biomedical research that is relevant to the mission of the Department of Defense."

Under the program, the Department of Defense had $1.5 billion in 2024. That money was dispersed to researchers from across the country.

After Congress cut that budget to $650 million, researchers feared their funding will be cut.

"Well, grants are already very competitive, so they're only funding well less than 10% of the proposals that are submitted each cycle each year," Port said. "There will be fewer grants by 50% or less, so they may only fund 40% of what they funded last year."

Port says they've received little communication about the future of the funding.

Traces of the federal program have started to vanish. The program's web page reads "page not found." It once listed the many research programs it funded.

"That will have direct impact on patient care and a direct impact on developing tools and clinical interventions," Port said. "In my case, we have two clinical trial proposals that we're working on proposing. Our chances of getting those funded will go down tremendously."

Several other organizations in Indiana receive a small amount of CDMRP funding. The change means they too may have less opportunity to get funding through the program.


Kyla Russell wrote this article for WISH-TV.


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A new bill in Sacramento would dramatically raise K-12 school funding targets by 50% over ten years. Assembly Bill 477 is intended to help districts raise educators' pay, to attract more people to the profession and keep them there.

Grace Consentino is a middle-school science teacher in Novato.

"My commute every day is a total of one hour and 30 minutes. I would love to be able to live in the town that I work in, but I live in a separate county because the cost of living is so high," she said. "This is why teachers leave."

A recent study on the state of education in California found one in three new educators is seriously thinking about leaving, mostly because of low pay. The bill would hike the local control funding formula.

Opponents say they are concerned about cost. The Assembly Appropriations Committee has not yet completed a fiscal analysis.

Dannel Montesano is a longtime attendance clerk in the Galt Joint Union School District.

"Starting paraprofessional pay in my district is $18.63 an hour, while down the street at McDonald's, the starting pay is over $20 an hour. So, our schools are suffering from constant turnover and staffing issues," Montesano said.

California is bracing for a big hit to the state budget, as tax receipts are expected to be lower. In addition, Congress has proposed billions in cuts to Medi-Cal. And the administration has threatened to pull federal funding from schools that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, sponsored the bill, which went before the Assembly Education Committee on Wednesday.

"The Trump administration is attempting to dismantle public education and defund our schools. California must fight back to defend public education," he said.


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After several weeks of public comment, bills addressing school finance in Texas will be presented to the House of Representatives.

House Bill 2 is the public school funding bill and Senate Bill 2 is the voucher proposal, along with its companion bill, House Bill 3.

Chandra Villanueva, director of policy and advocacy for the group Every Texan, said the proposed voucher initiative, which would provide students $10,000 to help pay for private school, would hurt public schools and low-income families.

"Our schools are funded based on attendance, so when kids leave the system, the schools will get less money," Villanueva explained. "Until you can actually close a campus, you still have all of your same fixed costs around utilities, teachers. You'll see more overcrowded classrooms."

Backers of school vouchers, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have said public schools will not be negatively affected. This is the second legislative session where Abbott has made a voucher program his top priority.

Teachers, advocacy groups and even members of the Republican Party have spoken out against vouchers. Many Texas teachers spent their spring break testifying before the legislative committee. Villanueva emphasized although the proposal is out of committee, they are not giving up.

"Members need to hear from their constituents," Villanueva stressed. "The public education committee has been targeted the most -- but even now, if your member is not on that committee, they're going to be the ones who are hearing this bill. And a lot of amendments are going to be offered up on the House floor. So that's an opportunity to try to limit the voucher, try to put more guardrails on it."

Both bills are expected to be brought to the House floor at the same time, but a date has not been set.


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