The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the Trump administration can continue with mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education while legal challenges against turning more responsibility from the agency to the states go on. States are also navigating the news that $6.8 billion in agency funding expected on July 1 is on hold.
The U.S. Department of Education deals with $1.6 billion in financial aid for college students and protects the rights of disabled and economically disadvantaged students.
The lawsuit over the closing of the Department of Education is in the lower courts, but the Trump administration can continue dismantling the agency and sending more responsibility back to the states. Education advocates and schools have raised concerns that if they win their lawsuit, the actions that have been taken can't be undone.
Gov. Mike DeWine said he met with Secretary of Education Linda McMahon recently.
"I talked to the secretary of education several months ago, went to Washington, talked directly with her. We told her at the time that we would welcome responsibility coming back, more responsibility back to the state. But we wanted to work with her and work with the department in regard to how that would actually be carried out," DeWine said. "The Trump administration's pledge was to return a lot of power to the states, responsibility to the states. And we want to work with the federal government in regard to that."
Twenty-four Democratic-run states and Washington D.C. are also suing the U.S. Department of Education for not releasing around $6.8 billion through five federal programs by July 1, including funds for after-school programs and English as a second language. The federal agency said it was conducting a review, and the funds would be withheld for now. Ohio isn’t among those in that lawsuit. Last year the state got nearly $185 million dollars from those programs.
A spokesperson said the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce said is "still determining the full picture for this year."