Episode 7 | The DEMS and DOE

Another week, another onslaught. There is more that we don’t talk about than what we do. To talk about everything would require 90 minutes or more, and frankly, who has 90 minutes for a podcast!?

One of the things we respond to is the role of the Democrats at this moment and whether they are rising to the challenge of resisting the Trump agenda. Peering over from this side, they seem a bit bewildered, which may not be an entirely bad thing. When Judicial and Congressional resistance fails, the people rise up, and this moment may be what we need to shake us up as voters and activists. The question is, who’s listening?

We don’t yet know the implications of the executive order seeking to dismantle the Department of Education, but we do know that it is not abstract. The DOE protects student rights and disseminates federal funding to meet their needs on a state and local level. States are tasked with distributing funds among districts and implementing policies to ensure equitable access to resources. By dismantling the DOE and lacking a plan to engage other departments to share the load (many of whom are losing up to 40 and 50% of their workforce), this sweeping action might actually affect a child’s access to dyslexia services in Rockwall County, Texas. What happens at the large level impacts the small.

So, what is yours to do? What is ours to not do? What need in your community are you uniquely qualified to meet or address? Answering those questions is how we make small, sustainable changes that serve the most people.

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A few links:

1) First, the good news…Watch here: “US Marine Band forced to cancel concert with students of color after Trump DEI order”

2) A little more on the DOE executive order here.