CA superintendent, other leaders call on President-elect Trump to protect public education

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Donald Trump took open aim at public education before being re-elected as president. Now, educators in California are wondering what might schools look like under his administration.

However, California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and other leaders are not waiting to protect students.

"We are ready for California versus Trump round two," California Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi said.

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"We are going to champion the line that defends our most needy," State Senator Aisha Wahab said.

"We call on President-elect Trump and the members of Congress to reaffirm their commitment to public education," Thurmond said.

Dismantling the Department of Education (DOE) could impact programs like Title I that help educate children from low-income families and IDEA, for students with disabilities - including special education.

California would also lose federal funding without the DOE, with nearly $8 billion lost for students and educators like Jeff Freitas.

"Our messaging, which is what we do, is to provide a safe and welcoming environment for all students," Freitas said. "Now, that's under attack by the president-elect."

Trump supports school choice programs and content restrictions on curriculum like critical race theory.

He wants to move the power over education from the federal level to the state level.

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UC Santa Cruz Professor Nolan Higdon says Trump has not made a plan fully clear, but this follows decades-old Republican ideals that democracy works best when it's local.

"The federal government is a necessary evil, as so many conservatives would often call it," Higdon said. "They think government should just do select things and we should keep government as small as possible. And they think something like the Department of Education is overstepping where the government should be."

Trump cannot act alone on this, it would take an act of Congress to remove the DOE.

Thurmond says he's already started to reach out to representatives to support public education.

Should the worst happen, he would sponsor legislation to make up for billions lost in funding.

"That would call on California State Legislature and the governor to back-fill that funding to preserve and protect that funding for the students of California," Thurmond said.

Thurmond's hope for this is they can get the education he says they all deserve.