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When Congress passed a spending bill in late January, members expressed concern over the U.S. Department of Education’s “recent, unprecedented” moves to shift its responsibilities to other agencies.
But they didn’t do anything to stop it.
On Monday, Education Secretary continued down that path, announcing that she’ll hand over school safety and family engagement programs to the Department of Health and Human Services as part of her ongoing effort to “break up” federal bureaucracy through interagency agreements.
“By leveraging HHS’s extensive emergency preparedness capabilities, we are creating a stronger foundation for supporting students and strengthening the safety of the school building,” she said in a statement.
The move affects programs under the Office of Safe and Supportive Schools, including grants that help schools respond to traumatic events like school shootings and natural disasters. Full-Service Community Schools, Promise Neighborhoods, family engagement centers and Ready to Learn, which funds educational TV for preschoolers, are also part of that office.
Critics were quick to argue that the secretary is creating more complexity for schools and teachers. “Nothing about this is better for kids,” said Vito Borrello, executive director of the National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement. “It’s inefficient. It’s chaotic.”
White House Splinters Education Department, Sending K-12 Programs to Labor
McMahon began transferring major education programs to other agencies last summer by moving career and technical education programs to the Department of Labor. She has told advocates for students with disabilities that “nothing shall remain” at the department. The Labor Department will also assume responsibility for elementary and secondary education, including Title I, the department’s largest K-12 program.
Democrats tried to insert binding language into the appropriations law that would stop McMahon from using these agreements to dismantle the agency. But Republicans balked. In a compromise, lawmakers attached a note calling for biweekly meetings with the department and saying they were worried that what McMahon is doing “will create inefficiencies, result in additional costs to the American taxpayer, and cause delays and administrative challenges.”
At the time, Savannah Newhouse, a spokeswoman for the department, said officials aim to provide “proof of concept that interagency agreements provide the same protections, higher quality outcomes, and even more benefits for students, grantees and other education stakeholders.” The next step, she added, is getting Congress to “codify these partnerships.”
Education advocates were relieved that Congress rejected drastic cuts to education programs proposed by President Donald Trump and House Republicans. But the question is “what happens to the funding and who is administering these programs,” said Emily Merolli, a partner with the Sligo Law Group, and a former member of the department’s general counsel’s office.
A coalition of states and districts sued over mass layoffs at the department last year and amended their complaint to challenge the interagency agreements as well. But Merolli said the court may ultimately have to look at whether there have been any “downstream harms” from offloading programs to different agencies.
Family advocates
The K-12 programs affected by this latest action have already seen disruption since President Donald Trump took office.
Last May, the department terminated the Ready to Learn grant, roughly $23 million that supported educational programming like Sesame Street and Reading Rainbow. In September, the department canceled grants to five statewide family engagement centers serving six states. The centers each received $1 million annually to support districts in reaching underserved families.
As with McMahon’s decision to cancel other grants and contracts, the centers were told their work was no longer a priority for this administration, which has aimed to eliminate programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
Borrello decried the decision in his November newsletter, saying that schools can’t support families “without a foundation of relational trust which is cultivated through honoring the diverse cultures and values of the families served. There is nothing controversial about this.”
Then in December, McMahon canceled remaining Full-Service Community Schools grants, totaling $60 million, to 18 grantees. They included two grants, a combined $18.5 million, to ACT Now Illinois, a statewide afterschool provider network. The organization sued over the lost funds and has been in negotiations with the department over restoring the grants.
To respond to increases in students’ mental health needs, the 2,300-student Herrin school district in southern Illinois used the money to hire a social worker for each of its five schools.
“We really need somebody to advocate not just for the students, but for the families as well,” said Valerie Clodi, the district’s director of development.
The Herrin Community Unit School District 4 in southern Illinois used some of the grant funds to expand career pathway programs. (Herrin Community Unit School District 4)
The district also spent the funds on school supplies for students, free STEM-focused events for families and expanded career pathways programs. Schools saw drops in chronic absenteeism, Clodi said, and increases in performance among high schoolers on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, an assessment that the state accepts as an indicator of readiness for college. But after next week, the team of five family advocates will be down to one. An assistant who helped families who need housing or other resources also left.
Clodi said she could see an overlap between HHS and community schools when it comes to focusing on students’ mental health. But “that’s just one pillar” of the model, she said.
Progress on Chronic Absenteeism Has Slowed. Some Say McMahon Should Speak Up
Borrello called the move to HHS “the best worst-case scenario” and better than moving the programs to the Labor Department. But he noted that putting family engagement programs and K-12 under two separate agencies could undermine efforts to get parents more involved in their children’s education.
“This couldn’t come at a worse time,” he said. “Scores are beginning to improve and now we do this.”
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