Cuts to the U.S. education system are expected to create a profound ripple effect on students and staff in Hamtramck's already struggling school district.

Hamtramck serves more than 2,900 students, including 300 in special-education programs.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Education laid off nearly half of its employees - with approximately 89 contracts, totaling close to $900 million.

Toni Coral is a teacher and president of the Hamtramck Federation of Teachers. She highlighted how these cuts will hit her district especially hard.

"Hamtramck is a district with a lot of what we call Title 1 students," said Coral, "at-risk students, and poorer families. If Title 1 went away, or if it was substantially reduced, we would lose teachers and our students would lose a lot of services."

Staff members from the U.S. Department of Education will be placed on administrative leave starting this Friday. The federal government seeks to slash spending by as much as $2 trillion.

Title I funding was created in 1965 and helps schools with many low-income students that need financial support.

Coral discussed some of the special services that would be affected by the cuts. She noted that Title I funding is essential for providing the support certain students need to thrive.

"With Title 1 money, we're able to hire certified staff to work in smaller groups to target their reading, their literacy, to work on math skills," said Coral, "and language skills for our students in Hamtramck who are brand new to the country, or relatively new to the country and just learning English. It would be devastating."

There are plans to get rid of 17 federal education programs and slash almost $5 billion from Title I funding.

This could lead to 72,000 teachers losing their jobs in schools that serve low-income students across the country.

As Ohio lawmakers debate the state budget, advocates for public schools are voicing concerns proposed cuts and policy changes could harm children's education.

Critics have charged the state appears to be prioritizing football stadiums over core services for students and families. The House budget does not fully fund the Fair School Funding Plan. The bipartisan plan, adopted in 2020, was designed to ensure all students receive adequate support.

John Stanford, president of the Children's Defense Fund of Ohio, said the plan was created to meet the actual cost of educating every student.

"They want to give $600 million to the Browns for a stadium and now, the Cincinnati Bengals are now saying, 'Well, what about us?'" Stanford pointed out. "It's this cycle of giving money away to people and organizations, to the detriment of children and families."

The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled four times the state's school funding model is unconstitutional. The House budget provides a $50 per student increase in many districts, and cuts $2.75 billion from the final phase of the Fair School Funding Plan, according to the Ohio Education Association.

Scott DiMauro, president of the association, said the plan was built around realistic cost estimates for delivering quality education including class size, staffing, materials and support for special education and low-income students. He thinks failure to follow through with implementing the six-year plan would shift more burden onto local taxpayers and leave many students behind.

"Districts that were slated to receive increases had those increases halved," DiMauro noted. "They arbitrarily came up with a $50 per student increase-barely enough to buy a pair of shoes, let alone pay for the learning needs of our students."

DiMauro stressed the Ohio Senate now has a chance to, as he sees it, correct course and ensure the state meets its constitutional obligation. At risk, he added, is fair and adequate funding for the nearly 90% of Ohio students who attend public schools.

Across Texas, 63 schools are participating in a Parent Teacher Association digital literacy program known as "Connected: Ready, Tech, Go!."

The program, sponsored by AT&T and the National PTA, provides students with laptops, and parents and caregivers with skills they need to ensure their children are safe online.

Ruben De La Paz, PTA president at Eduardo Mata Montessori in Dallas, which is part of the program, said many parents do not know how to talk to their children about technology.

"Whether it be talking about online bullying, things to look out for, what are things we should stay away from," De La Paz outlined. "We really don't have a guide on what age our kid is appropriate, and I think being able to walk us through the things that we should look out for as parents is a huge advantage."

Mata Montessori is a dual language Title I school, where 75% of the students have Spanish as their first language.

The goal of the program is to help address the digital divide by making the internet accessible to more students. Families involved complete a Phone Ready Quiz created in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics.

De La Paz noted in addition to helping kids use technology for educational purposes, they teach them to be safe online.

"Being able to meet them where they are and being practical," De La Paz emphasized. "Making sure that they know also what to look out for. And then I think also not instilling fear or shame in kids is super huge and letting them know that it's OK to come forward when you see something."

Across the country, 350 local PTAs were selected for the program.


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Minnesota law requires K-12 school libraries to be staffed by a licensed media specialist but survey results indicated almost half of districts have difficulty in this area.

This spring, Wilder Foundation researchers and a group working with regional library systems shared survey results from schools around Minnesota. Some 46% of respondents said they do not have a licensed professional managing their library media centers, citing budget constraints and a lack of qualified candidates.

Ashley Dress, school media centers consultant for the Southeast Library System, said well-resourced centers are linked to improved student achievement.

"They're often centers for collaboration, technology access and developing research skills," Dress explained. "There's also evidence that school libraries help to address educational inequities."

As the survey showed, many schools do not have a trained, full-time staffer to enhance such programming. In many cases, they are part-time, with teachers or other support staff filling in as needed. Minnesota's requirement surfaced in 2023 when the state approved increased aid to close gaps. This year, school library funding is swept up in spending cut talks at the Capitol.

Despite the approved aid, the feedback reveals some library officials were unaware of it. However, researchers said there is nothing to suggests funds are being misused.

Anna Granias, research scientist for the Wilder Foundation, said there are great examples of districts benefiting from the move. Still, she suggested current specialists are stretched thin.

"Many LMS's split their time across more than one school," Granias pointed out. "Of those who are working in more than one school, about half are working in two media centers, but nearly one in five are serving five or more media centers."

Nearly two-thirds of schools do not have library services with paid staff available to help students before or after school. While issues at the state level are sorted out, the analysis recommended school districts do all they can to hire full-time specialists for their libraries and give them enough support to do their job.


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