By Alex Hendricksen
In our nation, other issues often take precedence over education. Given that President Donald Trump has threatened to abolish the Department of Education entirely, we are on the edges of our seats awaiting his next move. Finding precise figures that demonstrate the amount of funding the government provides to the Department of Education is challenging. We can estimate that the United States has spent around 76 billion dollars on education so far in 2025. While the figure does sound extremely high, we must consider the fact that we poured more than half a trillion dollars into Social Security in 2024. Would our taxes be more useful elsewhere? Are students worried about their education with coming changes? These are the questions we’ll find the answers to today.
Do you think that students are currently getting adequate education?
Two-thirds of the BHS students interviewed on this topic did not believe they were obtaining an adequate high school education. Most students believed that they were simply acquiring the required education to graduate, and they were frequently pushed to do the bare minimum required to complete high school. Renny Snell, a Junior, believes that students actually do receive a full education and are given opportunities to achieve success. He claims that, while this may be true, students don’t, or are not prompted to, actually take advantage of their education and the resources provided to them. This was generally an outlier, as the other interviewees came to the general consensus that students were not getting well-rounded education and that this negatively affects them as they move on to higher education or the workforce.
How do you think the removal of the Department of Education will affect your education?
When asked about the topic, students went over their current high school education and their future educational opportunities. Several students claimed that the quality of their instruction will decrease. Nehmat Sekhon, a Junior, stated that she “won’t learn as much, and [her] teachers will not be inclined to teach as thoroughly. Teaching material will generally decline, become more hurried, and may include a Christian agenda.”
If the DOE gets cut, where would you like to see tax money allocated?
This was a challenging question for many students to answer. But, as students approach college and the workforce, they must understand where their taxes go and how they may influence it by living in a state that allows for change. Avery Reed, a Senior, believes that “If the department of education were to get cut, …we should put more money into Social Security. For myself, I believe that having a safety net that is available to most people is very beneficial.” While this is certainly an option, we have to go back to the beginning and consider Social Security as one of our most funded assets. Even though it is so highly paid for, people are living longer and requiring more funds. According to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, “Without reform, the combined Social Security trust funds will be depleted in 2035.” This means bad news for people who have relied on it before to make it through retirement.
Students with somewhat differing political opinions were heard throughout my interviews, and the general consensus would be that the removal of the ED (Department of Education) would have a negative impact on our schools. While we would have a very different system for educating our youth, we may see some growth if we put our taxes towards something else that may also be beneficial. Only time will tell what Donald Trump will choose for our next generation of students.
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