More WTF?
Co-Presidents Trump and Musk's proposed elimination of the U.S. Dept. of Ed. would compound Ohio's continued screwing of poor kids, especially poor, minority kids
Leave it to Donald Trump and Elon Musk to make everything worse, not better, in our state. A state which, I might add, voted for Trump (not Musk) by 12 percentage points last November.
Remember a couple days ago, when I wrote about how the Ohio General Assembly’s failure to fully fund Ohio’s Fair School Funding Plan would harm poor, mostly minority students?
Now that Co-Presidents Trump and Musk have decided to eliminate the Department of Education, those same kids would be further harmed by any loss of the massive federal aid they receive.
For example, in Cleveland, 25% of their kids’ total funding comes from federal sources. In Dayton, it’s 30.4%. Columbus is 22.2%. Canton is 30.4%. But Ohio’s biggest cities aren’t alone in their federal funding reliance. Lorain is at 35%, Ashtabula is 29.9%, Steubenville is at 25.4%. Ohio’s wealthiest districts receive about 5-8% federal funding.
As with my previous post, the communities to be most hurt are, on average, significantly less wealthy and mostly less white than the state overall. Once again, Co-Presidents Trump and Musk have found a way to hurt poor, mostly minority kids.
Maybe someone can help, you say? There are two ways to make up for the lost revenue: local property taxes or state support.
Imagine folks in these communities — many of which, I repeat, voted for Trump in large numbers, who earn, on average, 1/3 less income than the state average, being asked to increase their taxes to make up for a Trump-Musk 25%, 30% or 35% budget shortfall? Think that’s happening?
No way.
Think the state would make up the difference knowing that this legislature won’t even give these kids what the state’s own formula says they need because the politicians want to use your tax dollars to subsidize wealthy adults’ private school tuition?
No way.
So what would happen? Simple.
Cuts. Massive. Massive. Cuts.
Which means fewer resources for the kids who need them most to overcome the barriers they face. When you include the expected failure of the state legislature to fully fund the state’s own formula, it’s clear that our current crop of state and national leaders are bent on one thing: starving poor, mostly minority kids of the resources they need to succeed in this world so they can give your tax dollars to subsidize wealthy, mostly white adults’ private school tuition.
Once again, I ask, “What the f***k?”
