Minnesota’s education cut concerns: Walz and GOP battle over impact

Walz, GOP battle over Minnesota's education cuts

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is sounding an alarm about the potential impact of cuts at the federal Department of Education one day after the Trump administration cut the department’s staff in half.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - On the morning after the Trump administration cut the Department of Education workforce in half, Gov. Tim Walz sounded the alarm about the impact that could have on Minnesota teachers and kids.

Is the sky falling?

Depends on perspective:

School leaders sound very concerned, but Republicans are saying the sky isn’t falling.

The president is cutting about 2,100 staffers and wants to eliminate the Department of Education.

But when it comes to the actual dollars, there’s a lot of uncertainty about what he intends to do and what Congress will agree to do.

A lesson from the governor

Who’s eating what:

The lesson the Walz’s had for kids at Hayes Elementary School on Wednesday was from the book "We Don’t Eat Our Classmates".

The governor and First Lady of Minnesota say they’re worried about the federal government chewing up the Department of Education.

"Let's just name it what it is," said Gov. Walz. "The president has no idea how education works."

Gov. Walz Dept. of ED funding impact [RAW]

Gov. Tim Walz is outlining the impact on Minnesota schools if President Donald Trump were to dismantle the Department of Education.

Why it matters

Teacher layoffs looming:

Minnesota schools get about 10% of their funding from the federal government — around $1.4 billion last year.

It covers everything from Head Start to teacher training to special education services.

Fridley got almost $5 million in federal funding last year and superintendent Brenda Lewis says budgeting is a tougher task now because they have no idea how much of that is coming back next year, if any.

"This really looks like potentially looking at layoffs," superintendent Lewis said. "And as governor just talked about, when we don't have the certainty of the funding, we can't just magically budget on the same."

Cuts not necessarily coming:

Minnesota Republicans say they’re not especially concerned about the Department of Education folding.

They don’t think it means funding cuts will follow.

"The various funding streams can be shifted to other agencies or given as a block grant," said Rep. Peggy Bennett, (R-Albert Lea), also a retired teacher. "They can figure that out at the federal level. They know education's important."

Democrats point out the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) already cut more than $1 billion for schools and food banks to buy local food, so they have reason to believe more direct cuts are coming.

Meanwhile, the only budget proposed for Minnesota so far does include reduced education spending, mainly for private schools.

"The only person that has proposed cuts to our school districts right now? Our Governor Walz," said Rep. Ben Bakeberg, (R-Jordan), a middle school principal.