Educators brace for uncertain future as Trump administration readies plans to dismantle Department of Education

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Local and state school districts are reeling from the news President Trump is taking steps to eliminate the Department of Education.

CNN reports the administration is drafting an executive order that would end the department in two steps.

Few know how it will play out, but court battles are likely.

But if the President goes through with plans he promised on the campaign trail, millions of students, families, and educators will be impacted.

MPS board member Henry Leonard said, "Going after public education is really going after education in this country."

For many in the thick of public education, the future looks bleak.

The Trump White House is drafting an executive order to start the process of dismantling the Department of Education.

Leonard says every special education student in the state would be affected, as would low-income students.

And MPS would lose $29 million in funding for public and private schools.

Leonard told us, "It's already starting to hurt our early childhood propensity, the school lunch and breakfast programs and things like that. It would cut those right out."

President Trump's executive order would call for the education secretary to diminish the office.

He reiterated that goal from the Oval Office Tuesday, saying, "I told [Secretary of Education nominee] Linda [McMahon], 'Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job.'"

But only Congress can shut down a federal agency. The president is pushing for that, too.

It's not a surprise, then-nominee Trump talked about it extensively on the campaign trail, including in Milwaukee last October, when he said, "But the big thing is we're going to take it all out of Washington, we're going to send it all back to the states."

And the controversial conservative blueprint Project 2025 also laid out plans to cut the department.

Despite the forewarning, most within education are still shocked and opposed.

The National Education Association said, "Eliminating the Department of Education is equivalent to giving up on our future. Strong public schools are essential to strong communities."

And Wisconsin's Department of Public Instruction said, "We will not be distracted by political rhetoric that attempts to remove our focus from providing students with what they need in our schools and libraries."

Leonard was a teacher for decades and is concerned with the stress it will add to current educators and the message it will send to future educators. "There's a good risk that we're going to lose even more teachers. That are going to say, 'You know, I'm not going through all this. I'm going to go into the private sector.'"

But ultimately, he concedes there is not much that can be done, adding, "I don't know why anybody would think this is a good idea."

Getting the Republican-controlled Congress to eliminate the Department of Education is not a done deal.

When the first Trump administration proposed cutting the department's budget, that Republican-controlled Congress actually increased its funding.