Trump voters are going to be really shocked when he fulfills a promise to cut federal education funding. See, they all thought they were voting for cheaper eggs, less of those awful “Spanish speaking foreigners” and better jobs. Instead, they are getting higher taxes, less health benefits and dramatic and detrimental cuts to their local education budget.
For example, in Kentucky, many residents live in poverty, working blue collar jobs for minimum wage and little to no benefits. They pay little to no attention to politics are are “low information voters” who thought Trump personally sent them COVID checks out of his own money. They are the perfect mark for his snake oil salesman lie that “America First” means he is putting THEM first.
Sadly, his policies will most likely hit them the hardest, especially his promise to eliminate the Department of Education and slash federal funds to public schools. But what will that really mean? Well, Bell County receives 10% of its funding from federal dollars, but that number was actually HIGHER due to COVID funds. Cutting that funding would cause a ripple effect – teacher layoffs, bigger classroom sizes and less attention for their most vulnerable students – those with 504’s, IEP’s, special needs and ESOL.
What about other states that rely on federal funds to make up the deficit? CNN reports that “all of the 15 states that relied most heavily on federal support for their public schools in 2022 voted for Trump, while all but two of the 15 states that received the least federal dollars as a percentage of their overall revenue voted for Vice President Kamala Harris.”
I AM SHOCKED.
Said no one.
My guess is voters are in for a rude awakening. One Trump voter said “I don’t think that anyone in our county wants to cut our school funding. And I don’t think that anyone voted for that.” Except that is EXACTLY WHAT YOU VOTED FOR. Too bad. The voter actually said that “he believes his vote won’t harm his students and hopes that Trump’s plans to cut federal education funding won’t come to pass.
If it does, he said, it would be “catastrophic.”
Well, catastrophe is incoming, sir. And your vote helped set it in motion.
In Bell County, for example, the school district is the largest employer in the whole county. If they start laying off employees, where will they go??? There is no other after care – were will the kids go once the bell rings? And it is where most kids eat – ALL students qualify for free breakfast and lunch. Without those two free meals a day, many kids will go hungry. Some kids go hungry over the weekend, I am sure. WHO WILL FEED THE KIDS? Not Donald Trump.
But do not fear, Trump has nominated millionaire wrestling magnate, Linda McMahon, to lead the Education Department. Surely she will focus on feeding all the poor kids in deep red states. Not.
Ok, so this is all conjecture. Let’s look to the Trump MAGA playbook: Project 2025. You know, that book that we all warned people about, and Trump denied knowing about, but he is now hiring most of the writers to work in his administration. What does Project 2025 say about education funding?
Project 2025’s education proposals include “expanding school choice and turning federal funding, such as Title I and IDEA – which supports students with disabilities – into no-strings-attached block grants to states. Experts warn that could end up redirecting funds away from the marginalized communities they were intended for.”
Oh, so that sounds bad.
The Center for American Progress conducted an analysis the that Project 2025 plan and found that changing Title I funding would “eliminate nearly six percent of teachers nationwide, worsening the existing national teacher shortage and affecting the country’s most vulnerable student groups.”
Who are the hardest hit? States that voted for Trump.
MAGA loyalty only goes one way. Trump wanted your vote, but won’t do anything to make your life better. Once you give that vote and support, you are no longer useful to him.
“Fucketh around and ye shall findeth out” – A Twitter User in 2024
