Trump's plan to dismantle the Department of Education raises questions in West Virginia

WEST VIRGINIA (WCHS) — President Donald Trump is planning to dismantle the US Department of Education; something he feels will benefit students across America.

”We’re going to be returning education very simply back to the states where it belongs,” he said on Friday at the signing ceremony.

But could this work in West Virginia? High school civics teacher Cullen Hencke isn’t so sure.

“They have some other kind of services that are supported with funds from the federal government, and an awful lot of West Virginia kids get help from the reading interventionist, get help from a special education aid or lots of other supplementary staff that get a lot of funding from the Feds,” he said.

Trump said on Friday though that some of these programs would still receive funding.

“The department’s useful functions such as Pell Grants, Title I funding, resources for children with disabilities and special needs will be preserved,” he said.

Hencke is concerned about how this would disrupt the current state of operations on a local level, fearing that it could drive people away.

”If people are seeing instability and uncertainty in the teaching profession, they will look elsewhere,” he said. “Either outside of our state or outside of teaching in general. Chaos and uncertainty is not going to lead to better outcomes for kids.”

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey tweeted in support of Trump’s decision:

In 2024, The Kids Count data book ranked West Virginia 48 out of 50 states when it comes to education outcomes.

The West Virginia Department of Education said they have no comment on the situation, but did mention that in the 2025 fiscal year, West Virginia received roughly $470 million in federal funding for various programs.

$157 million went to title programs, $204 million went to the school nutrition program, $13.6 million went to vocational programs and $94.8 million went to special education and IDEA programs.