President Donald Trump is slashing the Department of Education’s workforce. MTPR’s Austin Amestoy speaks with Montana's Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen to learn how public education may be impacted.
Austin Amestoy: Superintendent, the federal Department of Education funds about 18% of Montana's public school budgets, according to OPI data from last year. Will that funding remain available to Montana schools given the ongoing 50% staff cut at the Department of Education?
Susie Hedalen: We have seen no indication of a reduction to funding for Title I. We have also been keeping a close eye on other critical programs that are important to our schools, our students and families in Montana, and monitoring those. Those include IDEA, which is our special education funding, and Carl Perkins, our CTE funding, just to name a couple that we're closely monitoring, as well as the USDA school nutrition program.
Austin Amestoy: So to your knowledge, that funding will remain flowing at this point?
Susie Hedalen: Yes, we have seen no indication of reduction in those funding streams. Rather, we have been told that there is an intent to transfer those programs to the state.
Austin Amestoy: Can you explain to your knowledge what that transfer of those programs to the states will look like?
Susie Hedalen: So, we are preparing to take a stronger role in the administration of the federal programs. From our understanding, it would just be a larger block grant distribution in which the funding would come directly to the state and we would distribute it to the schools just as we are now. The one hope that we have for this is that with less bureaucracy and removing that layer at the Department of Education, the goal is really to get more funding directly to the classrooms. At least that's my hope for how this works out.
Austin Amestoy: Prior to your administration, OPI had some pretty extensive staffing turnover issues that were reported pretty widely. At this point, do you anticipate the agency being equipped to administer those programs if indeed they're passed on to OPI?
Susie Hedalen: We are prepared to administer these programs, and I am going to be staffing up at the agency, and obviously with this change coming from the Department of Education, we will be preparing to take a stronger role.
Austin Amestoy: Superintendent, in 2022, Montana received more than $700,000 in federal grants for schools to help them purchase local foods. It's my understanding that that program was cut by the U.S. Department of Agriculture this week. This is different from the National School Lunch Program, but I wanted to ask if you know how much money schools will lose from that program ending.
Susie Hedalen: So we had just over $2 million going to K -12 schools.
Austin Amestoy: Will OPI help fill in those grants?
Susie Hedalen: We do not have funding to backfill those grants. They were, you know — it was a great program. It did help establish those local food networks. However, just as, you know, we talk about with any grant that is one-time funding, we were going to apply for the grant if it became available this spring. However, we never rely, it's never good practice to rely on grant funding.
Austin Amestoy: Are you worried at all that the, I mean, granted, yes, it is generally poor practice to build sustaining programs on one-time-only funding, but schools right now are facing pretty dire budgetary situations across the state. I know that a panel at the state Legislature also opted out of a separate summer food assistance program recently. I'm just wondering if you're concerned at all about a lack of funding going toward ensuring that schools have access to nutritious foods for students?
Susie Hedalen: We recognize the importance of local food access and school nutrition for our Montana students and especially our early learners. But as I said, we have received information that there will be no interruption in the USDA school food program. So our students will still be getting their breakfast and lunch.
Austin Amestoy: When we spoke last in December following your election win, you indicated at the time that you were generally supportive of President Trump's stated goal of closing the Department of Education, though you said at the time that would require a well-thought-out plan. That plan now appears to be in motion and I'm wondering, based on the evidence you have right now, if you believe it's been well thought out so far?
Susie Hedalen: We look forward to gathering more information and hearing more about the plan and I have been in touch with White House administration. I have been able to provide input and I am going to D.C. to meet with the new leadership at the Department of Education the last week of the month.
Austin Amestoy: Has the education department outlined its roadmap for you of what it plans to do going forward? Or are you learning information essentially as the public is when reports come out?
Susie Hedalen: Like I said, through the contacts and through me being proactive and reaching out, I have been able to get some information up front, and we have been getting detailed information as it's happening. As far as some of the layoffs and those other details, we are finding out as they occur.
Austin Amestoy: Thank you for your time, Superintendent.
Susie Hedalen: Thank you.
