S4 E28: Education Cuts Explained: What We All Need to Know with Chalkbeat Senior National Reporter, Kalyn Belsha

Join me as I interview Chalkbeat senior national reporter Kalyn Belsha for an urgent update on the Trump administration's education cuts. This follow-up to Kalyn’s Episode 18 appearance covers the rapid dismantling of the Department of Education. 

Discover which vital programs have been terminated, how research benefiting thousands of students has been abruptly halted, and what these cuts mean for vulnerable populations including children with disabilities. 

This conversation reveals how federal education funding is being used as leverage against schools and universities, and why the biggest concerns lie ahead with potential cuts to Title I and IDEA funding. 

Episode Mentions:

• Trump expected to sign executive order on U.S. Department of Education. Here’s what we know by Erica Meltzer 
• Parent groups and organizations that support families of children with disabilities by state 
• National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) 
• The Hechinger Report's tracker of Trump's education actions 
• The New York Times' tracker on lawsuits against the Trump administration 
• Columbia University's response to the Trump administration saying it would withhold $400M in federal funds from the University 
• The University of Kansas Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction -This link has a teacher's guide & earlier research on the strategy

00:00 Introduction: Why This Conversation Matters 

01:00 Overview of Recent Department of Education Cuts

02:00 Kalyn Belsha Returns with Critical Updates 

03:00 Department of Education Confirmation Hearings 

04:35 Linda McMahon's Limited Knowledge of Education Law 

05:25 Major Cuts to Teacher Training and Research Programs 

07:15 Impact on Students with Disabilities' Transition Programs 

08:30 Research Projects That Cannot Be Restarted 

09:30 The "End DEI" Portal and Its Real Purpose 

11:15 Where Are the Guardrails? Understanding Funding Types 

12:45 The Future of Title I and IDEA Funding 

14:15 Implications for Colleges and Universities 

15:40 Federal Funding Used as Leverage Against Schools 

17:00 Executive Order to Dismantle the Education Department 

18:30 Withholding Federal Funds as a New Enforcement Tactic 

19:30 School Meal Program Rollbacks on the Horizon 

20:45 The Connection Between Education and Democracy 

22:15 How to Stay Informed Without Being Overwhelmed 

24:00 Resources for Tracking Education Policy Changes

25:15 How to Advocate for Education Funding 

26:30 Moving Beyond Our Bubbles to Support All Children 

27:30 Closing Thoughts and Contact Information

When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

Transcript

Olivia: [00:00:00] Hi there. I'm so happy you're here. Here's what you'll gain by listening to the very last second of this conversation with Kalyn Belsha. I invited Kalyn back because her level of knowledge and depth of research as a Chalkbeat (senior) national reporter is incredibly helpful, I find, as a coach, as a consultant, and as a caregiver.

Olivia: My previous conversation with Kalyn, Season 4, Episode 18, released on January 6th of this year, it received such a response from folks emailing me, asking me to have Kalyn back. And that is exactly what I plan to do moving forward. Through this conversation with Kalyn, you'll learn about the recent administration's significant and rapid cuts to the Department of Education.

Olivia: These cuts are being made without established guardrails. They're leading to immediate impacts on vulnerable student populations while generating widespread [00:01:00] concern about the future of federal education funding and civil rights protections. You'll leave this conversation, understanding which education programs have been abruptly terminated so far, how the administration is using federal funding as leverage against educational institutions, and why, while discretionary grants and contracts are currently being cut, the larger concern is about what will happen to major funding streams, like Title 1 or IDEA.

Olivia: Stay with us. I am happy to have you be a part of our conversation. This is Schoolutions: Coaching and Teaching Strategies. The podcast that extends education beyond the classroom. A show that offers educators and caregivers strategies to try right away and ensure every student receives the inspiration and support they need to thrive.

Olivia: I'm Olivia Wahl and I am so honored to welcome Kalyn Belsha [00:02:00] back. Uh, she is a senior national reporter for Chalkbeat. She's previously covered education for the Chicago Reporter, Catalyst Chicago, and Suburban Chicago Tribune. Kalyn, your episode, um, this season, it dropped on January 6th. It's episode 18.

Olivia: It got such a response. And I was telling you earlier, not just from educators, leaders, coaches - I had so many caregivers reach out and say, please have Kalyn back. Please have Kalyn do monthly update check-ins to give us the latest. And I think a week or so ago I asked for the three most recent updates, but we were just joking, there’s probably fifty  updates in the last week. Um, so you're back. You're going to help us understand what is going on with the Department of Education right now with the world of education in general in the United States. Um, so thank you for coming back and having another conversation. [00:03:00] 

Kalyn: Thank you for having me back. I'm excited to be here.

Olivia: Yeah. Let's jump right in. What is the vibe? What's the atmosphere when you're watching and observing the congressional hearings? 

Kalyn: Sure. So there's been a couple of different things we've tuned into so far. Um, the first was the confirmation hearing for Linda McMahon, who was recently confirmed as our new Secretary of Education. Um, and so that was held by the senators in the kind of education committee. And I'd say that the tone was very starkly different, depending on which side of the aisle the Republican Chair Cassidy was very welcoming and so that he was looking forward to working with her. They are aligned on a couple different priorities.

Kalyn: I'd say, especially around kind of like career and technical education, kind of limiting the federal government's role in what is taught in schools and then on the Democrat side, you know, there was a lot more like, very pointed questioning around: What are you going to do to the Department of Education? What do [00:04:00] you want to do?

Kalyn: Um, we were seeing these cuts were happening as she was being confirmed. And so it was really kind of unclear who was in charge. Um, and so we saw a lot of Democrats were kind of pressing on what role she would potentially play and reeling in what, um, the, the Department of Government Efficiency was doing about cutting and then also pressing her on her knowledge of federal education law and civil rights law.

Kalyn: And there were a lot of things she said, you know, I need to learn about, or I need to look into that more. She was pretty uh, taciturn on a lot of those topics, and I think rightly so - a lot of them are pressing around, um, the rights for kids with disabilities and racial discrimination, which are two huge, um, roles that the government that the government plays in making sure that kids have an equal access to education. And, uh, one, a couple senators pressed her on kind of school accountability and things like that, too. 

Olivia: Yeah, I think a lot of us are concerned with just the general knowledge base, um, [00:05:00] and the understandings and to some degree I appreciate that she would say, I need to look more into that instead of just making something up, but then it's also terrifying to have the person that is in charge of making decisions, not have the background schema to come into the role with that experience level. So, um, yeah, disconcerting, I would say. Um, with the three or I'm going to push to five, what are other, what are other significant, um, shifts that you've seen since we last spoke?

Kalyn: Sure. So I'd say probably the biggest one that we've seen has been a bunch of the cuts that have already been made to the Department of Education. There were a lot of staff who were put on administrative leave are still on leave right now. Um, and then there was a series of different contracts and grants that were just kind of summarily terminated. The Trump administration said for a couple different reasons, they said it was either related to like diversity, equity and [00:06:00] inclusion work that they've been trying to get rid of, or it was stemming they said from like fraud abuse waste, which it's kind of hard to say what exactly which was terminated for which reason - sometimes it was blended. Um, but the ones that we've been most paying attention to have been cuts to teacher training. And to, um, some of the research grants, and I think there was kind of a misunderstanding about what exactly that research money was for.

Kalyn: And people kind of thought, oh, it's like people in their offices, crunching numbers, but a lot of the research was actually happening in schools. And so we did some reporting around kind of what was lost and some of these projects were multi, multi-year projects that involved. Thousands of kids and hundreds of teachers, um, and some of them were looking at really key issues that we don't really know a lot about.

Kalyn: Um, some of them were looking at, um, reading instruction, math instruction, and particularly around struggling readers and struggling math students. And, um, one of the big programs we looked at was for, um, high schoolers with disabilities transitioning into adulthood and supports [00:07:00] are really important for them. Um, and this was research that, um, the researchers told me it was really difficult to set this up took years. They had to get all these school districts on board, um, making sure that parents and students understood what it was. 

Kalyn: It was supposed to be providing extra like mentorship and support to the students who often are really overlooked and like, this is something they should be getting transition planning and their IEP. But parents say, like, a lot of times, these services are just not tailored enough to what they need. Um, and so I interviewed a parent who was part of the program who lost the service for her child and she was just devastated. Um, just like it was a really disheartening thing. And she was like, I can't believe that this is something that ended up on the chopping block. 

Olivia: I read that piece and it, it was crushing. I, I don't know another word for it - um, devastating is another. I can't, um, I can't wrap my mind around the cavalier nature, I guess I'm going to say with these cuts of really going so quickly - and I saw an interview [00:08:00] last night with someone that said we should be using a scalpel, where instead we're using a chainsaw or a hatchet. Um, what, you know, after interviewing that caregiver, what, what are your thoughts in the research that you're seeing moving forward? 

Kalyn: I mean, something that I asked all the researchers was like, how easy, how easily could you restart your program?

Kalyn: And they're like, no, this is dead. We can't redo it. Like a lot of the experimental nature, which is what makes this research so important that there's a control group. And we know for sure whether or not this intervention was the reason that it helped. They're like, we can't redo that. It's potentially you could take the people who were trained and try to help them do like a modified version, but they're like, we can't restart this.

Kalyn: And without the money, a lot of the federal grant money was paying for the salaries of these staffers. And so they've been reassigned or they found another job. And so it's just not going to happen. Uh, so I think that what, what to me was a big takeaway was that a lot of this training and knowledge is just going to be [00:09:00] lost. Um, and that is a real, I think, disappointment for a lot of people who saw this as being something that could be really worthwhile, 

Olivia: I guess - and I know you are, you, you take a much more neutral stance. For me I can't understand how human beings that just could, could just cut off a part of our population that is so significant and, and just, I don't know, caring and loving other people. So I know another project that came up, um, was the End DEI and I - that portal, as soon as I saw it come up, I actually cringed and thought, you know, what, who would create something like this? And so what, what research have you done around that? 

Kalyn: Yeah, so we actually do know a fair bit about like, what these portals can and cannot do. Um, there are several states who've had their own very similar portals where either parents or the [00:10:00] public could report things. Um, and we've seen sometimes they get flooded with hoaxes or pranks and they don't actually serve as like a very meaningful way to collect information. 

Kalyn: Sometimes they do subsurface um, I mean, it all only takes a couple, right? Um, sometimes they do surface complaints that can lead the state or other government to create some kind of investigation. Um, I think in general what has we've heard is that sometimes these portals, it's more just like the fear that it creates kind of the atmosphere, whether or not the portal itself is actually a very successful tool, I think we'll have to see a lot of the experts that I talked with before the portal launched - we had said, like, what would be the mechanism that the federal government might have? 

Kalyn: And people had said, well, if they're looking to shrink the size and scope of the department, like creating a giant reporting portal is not really helpful to them because then they have to deploy resources to investigate these things. Um, it seems like so far what they've taken, um, their approach has been to do directed investigations, which means that they're kind of proactively launching [00:11:00] civil rights investigations, which in the past there's that has happened, but not in the way that it is right now. 

Kalyn: Um, so it seems like they're going to be doing their own investigations kind of with or without this portal. I think the portal is more just a messaging tool and just kind of like showing that there is something there. Um, but if they're going to do their own investigations based on news reports and things like that, they're basically already doing, um, that work. Uh, but we do know that in general, in the states that have tried these things, they haven't been like, super-efficient at finding what's happening in schools, 

Olivia: I guess, like my biggest concern right now, and I'm hoping you can just give me some perspective on this is that when we talked last, when we spoke last, I still had so much faith and hope that there would be some guardrails in place and that these cuts would not just be able to have be able to happen. And where are the guardrails? What, you know, do we have ways of pushing back [00:12:00] these people that have lost their jobs? I'm hearing from you, not really. But what guardrails do we have? 

Kalyn: Yeah, I would say that there's kind of two different ways to think about the funding coming out of the Department of Education. Some of it is tied like directly to schools and students and that money is approved by Congress. And so we really don't know anything about what's going to happen with that money yet. We're going to be watching the budget proposals back and forth to see, um, but the money that we're seeing being cut right now is more for kind of grants and contracts that they have kind of more discretion to approve or rescind.

Kalyn: And so I think the big question will be, like, what happens with these giant funds for a Title 1 for high poverty schools. IDEA dollars for kids with disabilities. There's been a lot of different discussion about who should control that money, how much money should be going out to the states. So I think that is where we need to keep our eye. Like some of these other grants for sure are disturbing because they've hit kids, um, but they are much smaller in size than [00:13:00] this other, these other pots of money.

Olivia: What are you hearing about the evolution of those grants and the cuts? 

Kalyn: I think we are about to find out. Um, I think we are anticipating that there's going to be some kind of executive order. We were able to obtain a draft of it, but we're not sure if it's the final version that basically directs, um, the Department of Education to limit itself and make it as small as possible without Congress needing to step in and then creating some kind of plan that Congress could approve to make it even smaller.

Kalyn: Um, so that doesn't necessarily mean, though, that the funding that schools receive should be smaller. Um, so I think that is something we heard Linda McMahon in her confirmation hearing said several times. I am not trying to cut funds for schools. I think it remains to be seen. Like, we'll have to see what actually happens, but that's on Congress. And we've seen, I think Congress trying to regain a little bit of its control recently to say, like, listen, we do have the power to do this. You can't do certain things without us. Um, I think the first, like, month in office, like, things were [00:14:00] just so chaotic and it was unclear what was happening. Um, but I think that they are trying to reassert some control and certainly approving the funding for these giant vats of money is their job, but it's possible that other departments could end up in charge of the money for kids with disabilities and high poverty schools. 

Olivia: That's terrifying to me. And so I, in some degree, I'm trying to not feed into the fear, but then knowing children the ways that they've already been impacted from these cuts, it's it's not okay. And so something I'm trying to do as a caregiver having one of my oldest boys going off to college in the fall; so, I mean, that's something we haven't even talked about, right? The implications. I think when people hear the Department of Education, they think much more around K-12 education. And I'm throwing this at you, but what, what are the implications for college level? Have you studied that? 

Kalyn: Sure. So [00:15:00] they are being subjected to some of the same, slightly different restrictions around trying to wind down diversity, equity, and inclusion programming. Um, but we had already seen pressure on colleges to try to get rid of some of these things at the state level. And so there had already been a lot of efforts to get rid of particular, like multicultural offices to stop offering particular services to students. So I think we could expect to see more colleges will be under pressure to not offer particular services for, say, black students, Hispanic students, aspiring doctors who are kids of color, things like that.

Kalyn: Um, and then also, like, getting rid of staff whose sole job is to try to, like, make kids of color feel included on campus. Like, we were probably seeing those kinds of positions going away, especially, you know, at public universities, um, that rely on some of this funding. We actually just saw the Trump administration put out a press release saying that they were going to withhold 400 million dollars in federal funds from Columbia University. This is [00:16:00] over they say antisemitism on campus and so this is related to religious discrimination. But the fact that they're threatening to withhold this money, I think all the colleges are looking at that. And that is like a fear tactic that if, you know, they could withhold the money from one college, lots of colleges might be afraid to do anything that could, you know, jeopardize their federal funding. Um, so that is certainly the lever that they're looking to use both at the K-12 and higher education level. 

Olivia: What's the response that Columbia has offered so far? 

Kalyn: I haven't seen it so far. It just came out right before we joined. Um, but I'm going to imagine that they're going to say, you can't do that in court, uh, but we have to see exactly which, um, federal funding that they're cutting off. It's only a portion, like, maybe 8 percent of their federal funding. So I'm not sure exactly which ones they what pots they targeted. But this is something that we're watching at the K-12 level too - right now Maine is being threatened with losing its federal funding over allowing a transgender high school athlete to play. [00:17:00] sports, um, on the team that corresponds with their gender identity and, uh, the Trump administration said, like, we're going to withhold your federal funding and Maine’s governor said, we'll see you in court.

Olivia: Yeah. 

Kalyn: So I think we're going to start seeing all these things playing out. And these are all, um, certainly every school district is watching to see what happens. 

Olivia: And then, with that said, I know the executive order just came out yesterday. Um, and Erica is one of your colleagues, uh, editor, um, Erica Meltzer. And I just want to give her a shout out. I'm hoping she can even join future conversations of ours. And her piece was about the draft of the executive order to really just dismantle the Education Department. So can you give us an update on what, you know, about that draft? 

Kalyn: Yes, so we are still waiting for the official executive order. It hasn't been published. The Trump administration on Twitter yesterday said, this is fake news. And so we have no real idea when, if it's coming, but they didn't dispute the [00:18:00] kind of substance of the reporting that has happened so far. Um, so I think 1 of the keys, um, for thinking about dismantling an agency is kind of like, what needs to exist of an agency for it to still be there?

Kalyn: Like, uh Congress created this agency. It cannot go away without Congress. Okay. So what can like the executive branch do to whittle it down without Congress is I think still an open question. That's something that the secretary would like kind of need to work on. Um, but certainly we know like getting rid of staff, getting rid of certain grants and programs, like they've already started that work. Um, but I think we really don't know yet. We have to wait and see which programs they say should moved around. And I think once they start moving things or saying that they're going to move things, then we'll know more.

Kalyn: Um, I think a lot of people are really concerned about the idea of moving civil rights enforcement to another department. Although I have to say, the Trump administration has been really keen on doing certain civil rights, uh, enforcement that they see as their priorities. So it's, uh, it would be interesting to see them move it somewhere else, which would probably [00:19:00] deprioritize it in a little bit. It would have less dedicated staff to it. Um, I think there's a lot of tensions here around what the Trump administration's priorities are and what they want to be investigating versus who would be the best to do that. And who has the expertise and staff to do that. 

Olivia: Okay, so looking forward, I know things are changing moment to moment. What is on your radar? What's on Erica's radar that you're investigating, um, even over the next week?

Kalyn: We are definitely paying very close attention to the idea of withholding federal funds over non-compliance with something like the Title 9, um, civil rights law, or, Even just the executive order that the Trump administration has put out, of which there are many. Um, it really hasn't been done before. And so this is something that's like, very new. Um, it's been threatened. Plenty of administrations have said, we'll withhold your federal funding for not complying with X, Y, and Z thing. But it's never that I know of really happened. Um, and so if this is something that happens, like, I think we need to be paying really close attention to [00:20:00] it.

Kalyn: And I know that that's definitely on our radar. We're also really closely watching the kind of budget negotiations that are currently happening between the Republican, um, House, the Senate, everyone's kind of trying to figure out how deep the cuts might be that they're proposing. Uh, I personally am watching really closely the school meal program, which is something that, um, congressional Republicans have tried to reel it in after the pandemic. They really didn't want it to continue being a really big program. Um, there was a period of time where all kids got free meals, um, and that has been rolled back and they're trying to roll back access to free meals even more. So that is a key issue that I'm watching right now, too.

Olivia: Okay, good. That is on my radar as well. I had the privilege of interviewing Talisa Jones, and she is a school cafeteria leader, and so she, this is an issue that's near and dear to her heart, and I know she's done a lot of advocacy work through the NEA, just speaking to why it's critical that our [00:21:00] children's bellies have food, and so they're able to actually attend in school.

Olivia: My biggest concern right now is the idea of humanity. And, uh, that if we have a society that is not educated, that, that society is much easier to be controlled. And so I will always stand on the side of access to education, the best education for all children. I will always stand on the side of hearing and seeing teachers and educators and lifting them up.

Olivia: And Kalyn - your reporting, your research is doing just that. You are offering glimpses into these hearings, into these sessions that we cannot possibly be a part of and keep track of. And so I just, I need to thank you from the bottom of my heart for keeping us in the loop in such a thoughtful way. Um, and I'm really looking forward to continuing these conversations.

Olivia: [00:22:00] I, your updates, I wait for the Chalkbeat to come into my box. Um, when I see your name, when I see Erica's name, I'm like, all right, I'm ready to throw it at me! Because at this point we need to stay in the loop. We cannot tune out that we're being flooded and I, you know, I just a personal question to you. How do you keep up with everything? Like, how are you just staying on top of it and you don't look exhausted, friend. So how are you managing the flood of news and information? 

Kalyn: I, um, for the most part, I'm paying attention to K-12. So that does help that I have a little bit of a limited scope. Um, and just as a reporter, I tend to focus on civil rights, racial discrimination, rights for LGBTQ kids. So I think when I see things that are happening, it's, I'm trying to kind of see, like, how likely is it that this is actually gonna have an effect on like schools and classrooms versus how much of this is, is [00:23:00] this rhetoric. And certainly rhetoric is important to cover because that can filter down and that can affect how people feel about things.

Kalyn: It can influence state legislation. Um, but I try to ignore things that feel like they are just political, like talking points. And what are the changes that are happening that are actually like, being followed through at the school level. And I think the same thing, you know, when we were covering the research cuts, it was really easy to kind of cover some of these things and say, all right, we, we eliminated this and move on. But then, like, doing the work to figure out, like, well, wait, what actually went away? And like, what was happening in schools? Uh, I think that is really valuable to try to keep your eye on that right now, in this moment, when you're looking at your very full inbox. 

Olivia: Yeah. Yeah. And, and I would say something that was so helpful to folks that have reached out since our last interview and conversation were the tools that you offered to families to just keep involved at, you know, whatever level you can without feeling a sense of [00:24:00] overwhelm. I will put a lot of those tools back into the show notes for this episode. Are there any other, um, researchers or supports that you would offer and highlight for us to keep track of what's going on or sources. 

Kalyn: There are some very good trackers right now that can kind of help us stay on top of the different litigation that's happening around challenges to what's happening, which I think are very helpful. The Hechinger Report has one and I believe there are others and I'm happy to share those with you because I think there's just so much happening right now. It's easy to kind of forget some of these things are being challenged, and they may not actually end up standing. Uh, and so I think that that is something helpful to kind of just keep in perspective.

Kalyn: I also want to uplift some research that came from the University of Kansas. They are the ones who created the model that was taken away from schools that was supposed to be helping, um, high schoolers with disabilities, trans, uh, transfer to adulthood. Um, they had done a lot of work around self-determination. And so I'd love to lift that [00:25:00] up because that is the research that was under guarding the program that was ended. 

Olivia: That's beautiful. And so, um, I will make sure to any, anything you can offer, I'll talk into the show notes. And that piece about the high schoolers transitioning into adulthood, I want to make sure to include a link to that piece as well, because it was so moving. And is there anything we can do outside of continuing to advocate, continuing to make phone calls to have change happen in a positive direction that you could see? 

Kalyn: I think because a lot of what will happen next depends on Congress and whether or not they want to change the real shape of this department and get rid of it, or really break up who controls different funding mechanisms. If you are the parent or caregiver of a child with a disability, or your child is enrolled in a high poverty school district, you’re the ones who understand, like, what that money means to your kids and how important it is to have [00:26:00] people who really understand the rights and education of kids, controlling that money and making sure that it's reaching the kids who need it. Um, and I think those are the kinds of people that when you call your senator or congressperson, you can really explain from a parent and kind of bird's eye view. I mean, sorry, like classroom-level view of what that money means for you. 

Olivia: Okay. I would also beg of all of us if you do not have a child with special needs. If you are not a parent that's living in an impoverished area or a high-needs school. Reach out to someone that is and start to get a better understanding of the implications. We have to move away from only living in our bubble of impact. And I think that the only way to continue fighting for our children is by understanding what all families are experiencing, even if it's not within the walls of our home, um, even if it's not impacting [00:27:00] our children, it's, it's, one child is, it's, we're, they're all of our kids.

Olivia: So, um, thank you for your advocacy work. Thank you for the research you're doing, Kalyn. And I can't wait to get an update from you, gosh, probably in a couple of weeks. We'll just keep doing this and putting these conversations out to help people understand what's going on. Thank you so much. 

Kalyn: Of course. Thank you for having me.

Olivia: Yeah. Take care. Schoolutions: Coaching and Teaching Strategies is created, produced, and edited by me, Olivia Wahl. Thank you to my older son, Benjamin, who created the music playing in the background. You can follow and listen to Schoolutions wherever you get your podcasts or subscribe to never miss an episode and watch on YouTube.

Olivia: Thank you to my guest, Kalyn Belsha for sharing updates so we can all brace and be best prepared for what may be next in our world of education. Now, I'd love to hear from you. Send me an email at schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com. [00:28:00] Let me know what you would like to know more about from Kalyn or her colleague at Chalkbeat, Erica Meltzer.

Olivia: Tune in every Monday for the best research-backed coaching and teaching strategies you can apply right away to better the lives of the children in your care. And stay tuned for my bonus episodes every Friday, where I'll reflect and share connections to what I learned from the guests that week. See you [00:29:00] [00:30:00] then.