[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 43 (Thursday, March 6, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S1593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Department of Education

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, President Trump and Elon Musk and 
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon have declared war on public 
education in the United States, plain and simple. They outlined their 
anti-student, anti-family, anti-educator agenda in Project 2025. Trump 
vowed to dismantle the Department of Education last month from the Oval 
Office.
  So instead of nominating a Secretary of Education, he picked and 
Senate Republicans confirmed an executioner of public education. This 
administration is attempting to dismantle public education in the 
United States piece by piece.
  Well, Trump and Musk and McMahon are about to learn just how 
important Federal educational funding is to every community in our 
country. The Department of Education guards the promise of opportunity 
for future generations. The Department provides $18 billion a year in 
funding so that the poorest children in our country can receive the 
high-quality education to which they are entitled. The Department 
provides $15 billion a year in funds and oversight to ensure that 
students with disabilities across our Nation have meaningful access to 
quality education. It ensures that teachers are trained, that first-
generation students have a chance to go to college, that English 
learners and rural students receive additional support.
  Trump and Musk and McMahon might talk about ``efficiency'' and 
``dismantling'' the Department of Education, but we know that that is 
just code for cuts to educational funding for poor children, for 
disabled children all across our Nation. They don't want to educate; 
they want to eliminate. They want to loot our country's future which 
our students depend upon. Children are only 25 percent of our country, 
but they are 100 percent of our future, and we have to invest in that 
future, invest in those children.
  Ultimately, they want to loot the Department of Education for tens of 
billions of dollars in order to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and 
millionaires like Elon Musk. That is what it is all about.
  Just last year, the Department of Education provided more than $720 
million to support K through 12 education in Massachusetts alone. And 
every community across our country receives that funding from the 
Department of Education.
  So who do Trump and Musk and McMahon think will pick up the bill for 
their cruel and callous cuts? Who do they think is going to pick up the 
tab? We know who is going to pick up the tab. It is going to be poor 
communities. It is going to be families with disabled children. That is 
who is going to pick up the tab.
  And why are they doing it? To get the money from those poor families 
and to get the money from those families with kids with disabilities to 
fund tax breaks for billionaires and millionaires. That is what it is 
all about. It is cruel. It is callous. But it is all about those cuts 
to education.
  And I am hearing from communities who have no idea how they will keep 
the lights on if this Federal funding disappears. I am hearing from 
teachers and educators and families who are terrified that if the 
teachers are laid off, their students will not receive the services 
they need. I am hearing from parents of those who need this educational 
funding. They need to ensure that those programs are there.
  But at the end of the day, we know what it is all about. It is to get 
that funding so that they can then voucherize the public school system, 
take the money from the public schools and put it over in vouchers. And 
private companies will begin to benefit from all of that funding, and 
the remainder will just go to the billionaires for the tax breaks.
  And Trump and Musk and McMahon's evil plan to lock the promise of 
education behind an ivory tower, accessible only to those born into the 
right circumstances, it is just wrong. It is just plain wrong.
  Massachusetts is the birthplace of public education. We are the top 
performer in the country in math and reading because we invest in 
students, educators, schools, and communities. We do not believe in 
draconian cuts or in fueling discrimination in schools. Over the Boston 
Public Library, the inscription reads:

       The Commonwealth requires the education of the people as 
     the safeguard of order and liberty.

  While Trump tries to destroy order and liberty in this country, we 
will fight to protect the education of the people.
  You want a fight, President Trump? You want a fight, Secretary 
McMahon? You have got a fight. You are not going to be allowed to 
dismantle the Department of Education because, with that, you would be 
dismantling the hope that every family has that their child may fully 
realize the American dream.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.