March 20. President Donald Trump signs an executive order to dismantle the U.S. Education Department, with the intention of returning control over education to smaller jurisdictions.
As is ongoing, the Texas state government has not increased its base funding for public education since 2019, adding financial strain to local school districts.
“We have been impacted by the Texas State Legislature not funding public education for the past nine years that I have been on the Board, despite the bump in 2019,” Coppell ISD trustee Leigh Walker said. “That has put us in a hard place, operating with a deficit budget and having to plan what we do next because we cannot continue to dip into our fund balance.”
On May 3, Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 2 into law, authorizing a private school voucher program projected to start in September 2026. This will divert taxpayer money to private institutions.
“Our predictions are that 3-5% of Texas public education will take advantage of vouchers,” Walker said. “Typically CISD is not impacted as much. Our public education is a foundation for Coppell and Irving, and we must continue to be community anchors to compete with private and charter schools the way we always have: by doing what we have done exceptionally well.”
CISD board president David Caviness does not foresee an immediate impact to school funding through the voucher program.
“I think the true impact will be whether or not it incentivizes families or kids to leave our district in pursuit of a voucher program with a private school. We will really know next fall when we start seeing our enrollment numbers,” Caviness said.
Overall, impacts regarding the decentralization of federal control over education will be based on the individual states.
“State control gets to make decisions like what your curriculum is,” Coppell High School Principal Laura Springer said. “We have the Texas Education Agency which puts the Texas Educational Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) together that tells us what to teach, so we make sure to cover those things. When we take it away from the federal government, the state decides what our TEKS need to be. What do we not teach? Do we put religion in school? Do we not put religion in school?”
These factors take effect with the state’s education standards and who they put in place as the commissioner of education. Currently holding that position is Michael Morath.
“Public education spends a lot of money on testing, and that does not happen with private schools,” Springer said. “Another question that arises is that do we keep on testing and spending money there when you could use that money for something else? These decisions are now looking from the state down instead of the federal government.”
Currently, the U.S. Education Department oversees special education services through its Office of Special Education Program (OSEP). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) authorizes grants to support services such as special education, speech therapy and related services.
“If the federal government drops out and does not cover that, then who does?” Springer said. “The state has to pick up some, or they do not. They will get to make a decision, and you would hope that they would because we have got some kids that really need the support they get.”
Under President Trump, disability services are to be redirected towards the Department of Health and Human Services.
“We get a lot of our salary money for our special education teachers through the federal government paying for special education,” Springer said. “If it is going to move into the Department of Health and Human Services, I hope they still will federally support special education and teachers and send money to the state which then filters down to school districts.”
Concerns regarding the impact on students that benefit from special education programs are apparent.
“If this does not continue our country will go backwards instead of forward, because there was a time when people kept their special education students at home and did not send them to school,” Springer said. “I think every kid has a right to a free and appropriate public education and we need to be there to help them level the playing field for kids who may have a disability.”
Follow @CHSCampusNews on X.
