State Rep. Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park) speaks in opposition of House Resolution 55 on Thursday, March 20, 2025 on the House floor at the Capitol in Lansing.
LANSING, Mich., March 20, 2025 — President Trump signed an executive order today that will close the Department of Education (DOE). Michigan House Republicans echoed the move by adopting House Resolution 55, which supports the devolution of power from the federal government to states and urges the U.S. Congress to fully cooperate with these efforts. While adopting this resolution House Republicans refused to comply with calls for a record call vote, shying away from attaching their names to their verbal support.
“While Michigan families are focused on keeping up with rising costs and making sure their kids get a quality education, Republicans are focusing on dismantling the very systems that support them. At a time when the federal government is abandoning the nation’s children Michigan should not be standing idly by or encouraging it,” said state Rep. Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park). “Trump’s executive order and the House Republicans’ resolution backing it are absolutely not about helping students — they’re about stripping resources from our schools and creating chaos for parents, students, teachers and communities. I am committed to protecting public education and standing up for families who count on it. It is disheartening that my colleagues across the aisle can’t say the same.”
The federal government currently provides over $2 billion to Michigan for education. Destroying the DOE would gut this funding, eliminating critical services and threatening the futures of Michigan’s students — especially kids who rely on special education programs and low-income students.
“To support the deconstruction of the DOE is to support the stripping away of educational opportunity for hundreds of thousands of Michigan’s most vulnerable students,” said state Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth). “This executive order will cease funding that directly helps districts serving low-income kids retain teachers, update textbooks and offer quality after-school programs. Michigan Democrats will not allow House Republicans to mess with our kids’ lives and futures just to blindly follow Trump’s agenda.”
The Republican crusade to defund education hasn’t stopped at the federal level. Earlier this month, House Republicans passed a budget that guts the state’s general budget, cutting $5 billion from education funding, which includes 100% of the Michigan Department of Education’s funding and 25% of the School Aid Budget.
“House Republicans are trying their hardest to bring the federal chaos down to the state level, this time attacking our students and teachers and the services they rely on,” said state Rep. Carol Glanville (D-Walker). “Every child deserves access to quality education, and the DOE ensures that. This is yet another Republican attack on hardworking Michigan families who are already struggling to get by with rising costs and now will have to worry about whether their child will still have access to the specialized education they may need. I proudly stand with Michigan’s students and educators in letting Republicans know we will not stand for this.”
Across the state, school districts are struggling to retain teachers, fund building repairs and support school safety. Dismantling the DOE would pull even more dollars away from the public districts that most need them — public schools don’t have the room in their budgets to make up for devastating cuts to federal education funding.
“This is another attack on our communities, our institutions, and our access to education. Adding hurdles to education ensures Republicans can spread their hateful and deceitful propaganda,” said state Rep. Jimmie Wilson, Jr. (D- Ypsilanti), minority vice chair of the Education and Workforce Committee. “Not only is this a tactic to continue to perpetuate chaos, public universities, like Eastern Michigan University, and their students, will likely lose vital federal funding that is managed by the U.S. Department of Education. I cannot stand idly by when actions like these may jeopardize funding for the over 40% of EMU undergraduate students who receive Pell grants.”
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