Metro-east school districts face uncertainty with Trump’s education cuts

After President Donald Trump signed an anticipated executive order to further dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, educators on both sides of the Mississippi River question what’s coming next.

For Gabrielle Rodriguez, superintendent of Central School District 104 in O’Fallon, the present uncertainty mirrors that of what schools endured during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Superintendents like to be able to prepare, be professional and do things right, and communicate with families. It feels like we don’t have enough information to do so,” she said. “So, it’s COVID 2.0 in my eyes.”

The order, which Trump signed Friday, is intended to “return education to the states,” a statement from the U.S. Department of Education says, by directing U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to take legally-allowed steps to facilitate its closure. It also says the allocation of any Department of Education funds must be in line with federal law and the administration’s policy, including its stance on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

When signing the executive order Thursday, Trump said specific federal funding streams, such as those for individuals with disabilities and for districts that serve low-income students, would be “preserved.”

As the Trump administration has previously acknowledged, the president cannot dismantle the department through an executive order alone. Congress would have to pass legislation like H.R. 899, which is co-sponsored by Republican Illinois Congresswoman Mary Miller and Republican Missouri Congressman Eric Burlison, to officially close it.

“For far too long, our students have been left behind by woke, unaccountable Washington bureaucrats and a bloated system failing them academically,” Miller said in a statement. “Now, our country has the opportunity to expand educational freedom, increase opportunities for families and unlock our full potential.”

Burlison also praised the President’s commitment to closing the Department.

“This is Trump recognizing the power shouldn’t reside in Washington. The power should reside with the people,” Burlison said in an interview with Newstalk KZRG, a radio station in Joplin.

The executive order comes after Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced earlier this month that she would implement a “reduction in force” at the Department, which has slashed the staff by half.

Executive order leaves unanswered questions

As outlined in a communication from the Illinois Association of School Boards, there are many unknowns surrounding the new executive order.

“How and to what extent the EO will be implemented is unclear, and it is difficult to assess any potential impacts to local schools at this time,” the statement, issued Friday, says.

The Illinois Association of School Boards said in the same statement that it anticipates efforts to dissolve the Department of Education would be met with legal challenges. Multiple lawsuits have since been filed.

Brian Mentzer, superintendent of Belleville Township High School District 201, hesitates to speculate any outcomes regarding the order’s impact on local schools. There’s just too much uncertainty to do so, he said.

“We will await an outcome, and then we will continue to do what’s best for our students in our community,” he said. “As much as we try to be proactive, and we try to put ourselves in a healthy fiscal position, it just might be one of those situations where we have to wait and see.”

While most of Illinois and Missouri schools’ funding comes from the state and local sources, the percentage that comes from the federal government is crucial, educators stress. This includes Title I funding, which supports instructional initiatives for districts that serve low-income students, and funding for programs related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

“Federal funding supports our most vulnerable learners,” said Chris Kilbride, superintendent of the Ritenour School District in Missouri. “If the funding is impacted for our most vulnerable learners, that’s going to be bad for kids, and it’s going to be bad for the community.”

Even with the administration’s assurances that funding for students with disabilities, Title I funding and other specific federal revenue streams will not be cut, Rodriguez questions whether this funding will actually be saved given the administration’s other educational priorities like school choice.

Even if the White House makes good on this promise, the restructuring proposed by the Trump administration could disrupt services, said Cyndi Oberle-Dahm, the secretary/treasurer for the Illinois Federation of Teachers and history teacher at Belleville West High School.

Trump announced Friday that any of the Department of Education’s programs related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and nutrition will move to the Department of Health and Human Services, while the federal student loan program will now be managed by the Small Business Administration.

“If we get rid of the folks from the Department of Education that actually know what they’re doing and parcel (their duties) off to other departments who are understaffed, that’s worrisome, to say the least,” Oberle-Dahm said.

Any alterations to federal funding could trickle down to the students they serve, both St. Louis- area superintendents and metro-east educators said.

“While the full details and implications of the … executive order are unknown, any changes to federal funding — particularly in areas like IDEA — could have serious consequences for the students and families we serve,” said Michael Maclin, superintendent of Special School District of St. Louis County.

Maclin’s district is designed to specifically serve students with disabilities. It receives about $72 million in federal funding each year, with $41 million from the IDEA.

Federal funding is also essential to Central School District 104’s budget, Rodriguez said.

According to 2024 Illinois Report Card data, Central School District 104’s population of low-income students is higher than the statewide average. It also has what Rodriguez calls a significant portion of students with disabilities.

In the last fiscal year, federal funding comprised over 20% of the O’Fallon district’s budget.

That 20% includes support for homeless students, curriculum, supplemental materials, social-emotional support for teachers — “ancillary things that are necessary to continue to see teacher practice improve and student growth soar,” Rodriguez said.

Districts may also fund entire salaries with federal funds, meaning any changes could result in losing teachers at a time when staffing shortages plague the industry, Oberle-Dahm said, casting “ripple effects” like larger class sizes throughout entire schools.

While Central School District doesn’t draw from federal grants to pay its personnel, it does rely on federal funding to recruit and retain teachers, Rodriguez said. Social-emotional support in particular is critical; Rodriguez said more students are coming in with trauma and challenging behaviors, and that can take a toll on teachers.

“Those supports are what change education and what drives improvement,” Rodriguez said. “Without it, how do we reward our teachers? How do we give them incentives to keep them going when we are in a very hard, hard profession that’s losing people by the dozens?”

This story was originally published March 26, 2025 at 6:00 AM.