Trump’s shifting federal education policies steal focus of Pa. Senate budget hearing

• By Jaxon White/LNP | LancasterOnline

Senate Democrats on Wednesday questioned Pennsylvania’s Education Secretary about the state’s plans to address the Trump administration’s shifting public education policies.

During a more than four-and-a-half-hour Appropriations Committee hearing, Education Secretary Carrie Rowe said it’s difficult to write guidance to address executive orders issued by the White House since they can be overturned quicker than legislation approved by Congress.

“The last thing we want to do is put out guidance that then needs to be retracted,” said Rowe, who was appointed to her post by Gov. Josh Shapiro just last week.

State Sen. Lindsey Williams said public schools within her Allegheny County district are seeking guidance from the state on what to do regarding Trump’s plans to dramatically restructure the federal Education Department.

Pennsylvania school districts receive about $1.6 billion annually from the federal agency. About $762 million of that is Title I funding to support low-income students and those in underperforming districts.

Losing those funds would be “catastrophic” to Pennsylvania schools, according to Rowe, echoing comments she made at Monday’s House budget hearing.

“It won’t take that long to dismantle, and I’m not sure it can ever be put back together quite the same way again,” Rowe told senators, acknowledging the Trump administration’s plan for the agency remains unclear.

LNP | LancasterOnline previously reported that axing the department could cost Lancaster County public schools nearly $55 million in funding per year.

Rowe said funding cuts could lead to larger class sizes, the hiring of less qualified teachers and higher student dropout rates, especially among those with disabilities.

Appropriations Committee Chairman Scott Martin, a Martic Township Republican, told reporters after the hearing’s morning session that his Democratic colleagues are focusing too much on federal decisions that are not yet final.

“Right now, (if) someone even thinks an idea, it gets national attention … before it actually becomes a thing that’s sitting on the President’s desk,” Martin said.

He said he is more concerned about addressing Shapiro’s $51.4 billion budget plan for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

The governor’s pitch

The budget Shapiro pitched earlier this month includes a $75 million increase from last year for basic education funding and a $40 million boost for special education.

It also includes $526 million in funding intended to chip away at the $4.5 billion needed to close the funding gap between rich and poor school districts. Both the Legislature and governor are working to respond to a 2023 court ruling that Pennsylvania unconstitutionally underfunds its low-income districts.

Martin said the state is not properly gauging whether the money it’s pouring into education is having a measurable impact. Any conversations about spending more to close the gap this year, he said, should include conversations on how the General Assembly can hold districts accountable for how they use state funds.

“I think people are sick of the status quo,” Martin said. “I think people want to know exactly how their dollars are being utilized.”

Philadelphia Democrat Vincent Hughes, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said at a Wednesday press conference Republicans in Congress are planning to cut federal spending by $2 trillion over ten years, which would lay the foundation for dissolving federal education funding.

“We’re going to do what we have to do here in Harrisburg to protect the state funding,” Hughes, said. “But if that becomes a reality in Washington, D.C., it becomes a much different conversation here in Pennsylvania.”