Published: May 8, 2025
First Appeared In NEA Today, May 2025
Cuts to Federal Education Programs Hurt Students
President Donald Trump has issued a series of reckless and destructive directives to dismantle the federal government’s role in protecting and strengthening public education.
When his administration talks about abolishing the U.S. Department of Education (ED), it uses divisive and misleading rhetoric (such as “ending radical indoctrination”) to obscure the fact that students—especially lower-income students in rural, suburban, and urban communities as well as students with disabilities—would lose the most. Dismantling the department would mean defunding programs, such as Title I, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and Pell Grants, that feed, educate, and protect our most vulnerable and underserved students. Without these programs, many families and communities will be left reeling.
These and other deliberate acts are part of a broader strategy to manufacture crises that justify consolidating power, dismantling federal agencies that help people, and reallocating public tax dollars to fund tax breaks for Trump, his billionaire donors, and Elon Musk, his “CEO” and the world’s richest man.
On February 12, parents, educators, community leaders, and elected officials (top, right) from across the country rallied outside the U.S. Capitol to take a stand for students and public schools.
Speaker after speaker shared the negative impact that shutting down ED would have on students, educators, and public schools across the country.
“The idea of dismantling the Department of Education and the programs that fall under it, it’s not just numbers on a page. There’s a human piece as well,” explained Brian Skinner (right), a special education teacher in Kansas. “Taking funds from a system that serves 90 percent of our kids disproportionately hurts those who either cannot choose or are not chosen by a private school.”
Rural communities would be hit especially hard, as many of its public schools rely heavily on federal funding. Without these resources, small districts, for example, would struggle to keep schools open, leading to school closures.
“[Parents] do not want to dismantle public schools and privatize them,” said NEA President Becky Pringle. “They want to partner with us—at the state and federal level—to make sure our schools have what they need.”
How Teachers View Their Pay and Benefits
Too many educators are still facing a challenging financial climate, unable to make ends meet or even afford to live in the communities where they work. It’s no surprise then that teachers’ perceptions of their pay have not changed—and may have worsened, according to the 2024 “State of the American Teacher Survey” by RAND Corporation.
According to the survey, about 1 in 4 teachers who received less than a 3 percent raise said they planned to leave the profession at the end of the 2023 – 2024 school year. Of their counterparts whose pay rose 5 percent to 10 percent in the same period, just over 1 in 10 said they planned to stop teaching. Low pay was cited as a top source of job-related stress for 1 in 3 teachers.
The survey revealed that 65 percent of teachers reported taking on extra school duties, such as coaching sports, mentoring, or serving as department chair. Some teachers reported that the extra duties helped boost their pay, but 1 in 4 teachers said they were not paid for this extra work.
Better perceptions of pay are significantly more likely in states that allow collective bargaining. In these states, the survey found that teachers reported not only higher pay, but access to a wider array of other benefits than teachers in states that prohibit collective bargaining.
AI Use in Schools Increases
Students’ and teachers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) notably increased from the 2022 – 2023 school year to the 2023 – 2024 school year, according to a report by the Center for Democracy & Technology. During that period, the percentage of teachers who reported using generative AI rose from 51 percent to 67 percent, while use by high school students increased from 58 percent to 70 percent. Teachers were more likely to tap into AI for school uses over personal uses, while students reported the opposite.
Two-thirds of teachers said they have not received guidance from their schools regarding response and discipline procedures when a student uses the technology for prohibited behaviors, such as plagiarism or cyberbullying.
Chronic Absenteeism Is Still Too High
Student chronic absenteeism is often cited by educators as one of the top challenges facing public schools. Already a problem before the COVID-19 pandemic, it worsened in the subsequent school years. But recent data suggests that at least some progress has been made. According to an analysis by Attendance Works, chronic absenteeism dipped slightly from a high of 30 percent nationally in 2021 – 2022 to 28 percent for the 2022 –2023 school year.
Attendance Works defines chronic absenteeism as when a student misses 10 percent or more school days over a school year—or about 18 days—due to absence for any reason, including those that are excused, unexcused, and suspensions. Research shows that such elevated levels of chronic absence can easily overwhelm school staff and negatively affect teaching and learning for all students.
While any decline is welcome, chronic absenteeism is still at historically high levels. The majority of schools still had a chronic absence rate of 20 percent or higher.
What’s Keeping You Up at Night?
We all have problems sleeping at times. We often start thinking about tomorrow and the challenges it may bring. Education Week recently asked teachers about the stress that may cause them to lose sleep. Here are the top 10 responses:
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Student behavior and discipline
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Workload, preparation, stress, and lack of time
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Student apathy, engagement, and mental health
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Teacher pay and financial concerns
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Political climate/ state or federal politics
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School funding, resources, and staffing
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Ineffective or unsupportive school and district leadership
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Lack of parent engagement and support
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Challenges with student achievement and learning
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Curriculum and standards
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