In light of President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), local education leaders explored the implication for La Mesa Spring Valley schools.
The La Mesa Spring Valley School District Governing Board hosted Kevin Gordon, president of the Capitol Advisors Group and legislative advocate for public schools in California, at its March meeting. In addition to the order to dismantle the DOE, Gordon also discussed Trump’s order to remove Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive (DEI) and how it may impact local schools.
“(I’m) not an advocate of districts taking budget action predicated on the threat of what might happen at the federal level, because it’s just so fuzzy right now,” Gordon said at the meeting. “There are issues going on with your budget here in the state of California and the state legislature that would create caution for you, but at the federal level, we just kind of have to watch it really carefully.”
Gordon said he believes that the health of California’s state budget for education indicates stability for state schools, despite the recent shift in the political power dynamic.
Gordon also said that at least for this year and the next, these executive orders have little effect on programs like Title 1 and special education. In his opinion, he views executive orders as “a lot of noise being made, (but which) probably don’t have the force of law.”
Laws are hard to change, but the Gordon said the Trump administration’s agenda has been accelerated by a stream of executive orders.
“I think all across the country, they’re going to make a lot of progress without changing the law, just by putting out these executive orders and getting communities to say, ‘Oh, I need to change something because they’re saying I need to change it,’” Gordon said.
The DOP in February cut more than $600 million in teacher training grants on “divisive ideologies,” it announced in a statement.
Gordon says part of his work at Capitol Hill is reaching out to people sympathetic with special education to ask them to reconsider cuts – and that people have largely been amenable to looking into them.
“We’re gonna have to do that a lot,” he said. “That’s a lot of work to go back and try to make those things right, but that’ll be where most of our work is at the federal level.”
In addition to canceled grants, other sources of federal funding is also decreasing nationwide this year as COVID-19 relief funds expire.
Gordon then turned the podium over to Tina Douglas, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services, to present the second interim budget report. Despite a slight decline in enrollment and federal funding, Douglas reported that, “the budget is certifying positive, in that we will be able to meet our obligations for the next three years.”
The official report can be read here.
Next on the agenda was an action item presented by Superintendent David Feliciano, in response to the recent presidential orders on immigration enforcement, DEI programs, and gender identity. The board approved a resolution affirming LMSVSD’s commitment to a culture of belonging. Superintendent Feliciano stated in the agenda:
“Though lacking substance to directly impact our work, the executive order on “DEI Programs” (diversity, equity, and inclusion) refuses to acknowledge the existence and value of many in this country and within our District, opposing the principles of equality and human worth this nation was founded on.” Feliciano wants families and students to know that in a time of a heightened sense of fear, LMSV schools still remain with open arms. Read the full resolution here.