Oregon AG sues Trump over education cuts
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield joined a coalition of 20 other Democratic attorneys general on Thursday to sue the Trump administration over its plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
Why it matters: Gov. Tina Kotek's proposed budget for the Department of Education over the next two years relies on roughly $1.5 billion in federal funding. Without those dollars, programs for low-income and disabled students, teacher salaries and school transportation could be impacted.
- "If the president gets his way, the most vulnerable students will suffer the most, and that's something we can't let happen," Rayfield said in a news release.
Driving the news: President Trump's education secretary, Linda McMahon, confirmed the mass layoffs this week were the first step toward shuttering the department.
- The attorneys general argue that the recent mass layoff of department staff was "illegal and unconstitutional."
- They're seeking a court order to stop further disruption and assert that "only Congress may abolish an agency it created."
The big picture: Mass layoffs at the department will cause loss or delays in funding or support "impacting nearly every aspect of K-12 education" in the states that sued, the lawsuit said.
- Impacts will include teacher shortages and a loss in professional development and salaries for specialists who work with students with disabilities.
Zoom in: Several major school districts in Oregon — including Portland Public Schools — are already staring down massive budget shortfalls heading into the next school year.
- Significant job cuts and the elimination of essential programs, including special education and bilingual support, that have already been proposed could be exacerbated without federal funding and increase the workload for district employees.
- In a statement, the Oregon Department of Education said any reduction in federal investment "would shift financial responsibility to state and local budgets, potentially straining resources and widening existing inequities."
Between the lines: Democratic attorneys general, including Oregon's, have launched challenges to many of the Trump administration's actions and executive orders in recent weeks over birthright citizenship, grant funding freezes and federal layoffs.