The New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association (NJPSA) strongly opposes the Executive Order signed on March 20 and will oppose any future legislative effort aimed at dismantling the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE).
The USDOE plays a vital role in shaping the lives of New Jersey students by distributing more than a billion dollars in federal funding to support the state’s most vulnerable learners. It also strengthens the education system by promoting professional development for educators, advancing educational research, and sharing best practices. Through its oversight and goal-setting efforts, the department works to elevate educational quality nationwide, ensuring that every child, regardless of their zip code, has access to the resources and opportunities needed to succeed.
This federal commitment raises awareness at the national level of the needs of our students and gives our children the important message that the entire country values their education. Without it, schools in under-resourced communities may struggle to provide the necessary interventions, support services, and instructional programs that help bridge opportunity gaps. NJPSA is disheartened to see movement toward dismantling this agency, which is designed to elevate the needs of all children and to motivate and support the education profession.
As school leaders, we rely on the USDOE to support our most vulnerable learners in our special education programs; to support multiple pathways to success through college, vocational, and career pathways; and to continue to empower our educators through ongoing, timely, and meaningful professional learning. While New Jersey is a state with a strong belief in local control, as evidenced by roughly 600 individual school districts, the umbrella of support that the USDOE has provided for the past 45 years has been invaluable. It is not just about funding, which may still get to the states, although how and with what disruptions have yet to be determined. Instead, the USDOE serves a core purpose of linking schools across this nation, setting a standard of excellence, and prioritizing public education at the highest levels in our nation.
Abolishing the USDOE will create instability, widen disparities, narrow access to the research that supports best practices in education, and undermine the progress that has been made in advancing public education over several decades. We strongly urge the U.S. Congress to reject any efforts to destroy this critically important agency. Instead, we call on our leaders to strengthen federal support for education to ensure that our students, who will be the innovators, entrepreneurs, thinkers, leaders, doers, and contributors to the next generation of American success and prosperity, have the opportunity and access to learn, build, and develop the knowledge and skills they need to make it happen.