ATLANTA — Some educators and parents of special needs children said they fear President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the Department of Education will lead to massive cuts to crucial programs.
“They’re learning language skills, social skills, they’re learning job requirement skills,” Deana Bohannon told Channel 2’s Audrey Washington.
Bohannon is the mother of a son with special needs.
“Jakob was born with cerebral palsy, it’s called Spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, which means it affects every part of his body,” Bohannon explained.
But she said her son’s special needs teachers in school helped her son beat the odds. He eventually graduated from high school.
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“Going to school, he got to integrate with the typical kids, other kids in his classroom. It opened up a whole new world for him,” Bohannon added.
Now, some educators fear that new world will not be possible for other children with disabilities.
Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at dismantling the Department of Education.
“When you eliminate the positions, when you eliminate the funding, then obviously there is going to be issues,” said Lisa Morgan, the President of the Georgia Association of Educators.
GOP leaders said Georgia students will not be impacted, and that funding will most likely come from block grants.
Morgan said she does not believe that claim.
“We will lose teaching positions, we will lose support staff, but more importantly that impact goes directly to our students in larger classes,” Morgan said. “We need to be contacting our congressional representatives. It will require an act of Congress to dismantle this department.”
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