Republican crusade to cut USDOE and MDOE services threatens access to higher education for Michiganders

 

LANSING, Mich. March 14, 2025 — The Department of Education (DOE) announced plans to lay off more than 1,300 employees this week — in line with the Trump Administration’s plans to gut the department. Left with only about half of its staff, essential services that hundreds of thousands of Michiganders rely on are expected to be more inefficient, including assistance for families applying for financial aid and repaying student loans.

Mirroring the Trump Administration’s radical crusade to eliminate the DOE, Michigan House Republicans introduced and passed budget bills last week that would cut 100% of the Michigan Department of Education and 25% of the School Aid Budget. These state level budget cuts both mirror and compound what is happening at the federal level, and regular people are having to deal with the negative consequences. 

“Now more than ever, Michigan’s families need relief from rising costs and a stable, supportive education system that opens doors for their kids,” said state Rep. Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park). “Instead, members across the aisle are supporting more uncertainty and more threats to the crucial funding that supports Michigan’s students. Michigan Democrats will not stand by while these layoffs and cuts throw low-income and working families under the bus.”

Gutting DOE staffing and services disproportionately targets and prevents low- and middle-income Michiganders from having access to post secondary education. With fewer staff, the DOE will be unable to effectively manage student loan repayment services and counselling, as well as investigate civil rights complaints.

“Over one million Michiganders have student loan debt — laying off federal loan servicers is detrimental to families across our state who rely on the DOE’s workforce to finance their repayments,” said state Rep. Carol Glanville (D-Walker). ”These layoffs will make the financing process for higher education highly inefficient. Michigan’s families deserve better than this chaos and uncertainty.”

Michigan currently receives over $2 billion in yearly funding from the DOE, including about $460 million for K-12 special education programs that support over 217,000 students in the state. As Trump’s threats of closing down the department loom, families across the state are fearful for the quality of their children’s education.

“Michigan’s teachers, superintendents, and education advocates have already foreseen the real threat that dismantling the DOE holds for our students,” said state Rep. Jimmie Wilson, Jr. (D-Ypsilanti), minority vice chair of the House Education Committee. “It is important for every Michigander to understand that this will impact us here at home — layoffs and cuts to the DOE affect your children, their classmates with and without special education needs, your friends and family with student loans, and everyone’s ability to partake in higher education.”

As the key administrator of Title I, funding from the DOE also supports Michigan’s schools that serve primarily low-income students to close the gaps in state and local funding. The Republican agenda would rob Michigan’s low-income districts of this funding that supports their classroom materials, teachers and counselors and mental health programs.

“The fact is that our state and local districts need federal funding and services to make up the difference for low-income students. As state legislators, we have a responsibility to fight to provide a quality education to every child,” said state Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth). “These layoffs and looming cuts make quality and higher education significantly less accessible for our most vulnerable students — I urge our Republican lawmakers to put kids over politics and join Michigan Democrats in fighting back against these cuts.”

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