- The Trump Administration is considering plans to dismantle the Department of Education
- In 2024, the department spent $268 billion, or 4%, of the federal budget
- Video shows a mother explaining why eliminating the department could hurt kids in the neighborhood
Jill Dombrowski was picking up her daughter from the Foster Community Center in Lansing when I asked her about possible plans for an order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
"A basic human right is education," Dombrowski said. "If [a student's] basic needs aren't being met... we're all going to suffer as a society."
The Trump Administration is considering issuing an executive order that would dismantle the agency that spent $268 billion, or 4% of the federal budget, in 2024.
Dombrowski said she wants her daughter to have an education that gives her a leg-up in life.
"We want her to be a smart, educated, well-adjusted member of society," Dombrowski said. "We believe in kids getting a solid education with their peerse and that's what we want for her and for all children."
The president's plan is to give more control to states over education.
REPORT: TRUMP TO ORDER DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO BE DISMANTLED
But during confirmation hearings, Education Secretary Linda McMahon noted that the move to dismantle the agency she heads needs congressional approval.
Republicans have a majority in both the House and Senate.
"It's set up by the U.S. Congress and we work with Congress. It clearly cannot be shutdown without it," McMahon said.
Dombrowski worries that shutting down the department could hurt our youngest neighbors already at a disadvantage.
WATCH: WHAT MIGHT REFORM AT THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LOOK LIKE?
Dombrowski says she relies on her parental insticts to guide her daughter. Those same instincts she says she'd use on every child that isn't hers.
"I would fight for anyone's child the way I would fight for mine," Dombrowski said. "I can see the humanity that lives in all of us. That's a value that I try to pass on to her."
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