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| The Department of Education announced on February 13 that they had cut $350 million from Regional Education Laboratory programs due to being "woke." The term "woke" is a buzzword used by American Conservatives, to indicate that a program, person, or organization, etc... considers social issues, including disability and racial disparity, when implementing a policy. |
Regional Education Laboratories Funding For Research and Development Slashed
The Department of Education's first major action under the Trump Administration was to cut $350 million in funding from research and development programs run by Regional Education Laboratories. This represents nearly half —about 43%—of the agency's $815 million budget, and about 90% of its research and development budget. The announcement reported funds were cut because the spending was "woke," meaning the research was aimed at improving underperforming schools, enhancing the experience in rural schools, and the quality of special education.
Regional Education Laboratories are run by a Department of Education agency, the Institute of Educational Sciences, which seeks to help schools implement best practices in every aspect of United States education. It is responsible for numerous ideas that have become widespread in most of the United States. For example, the ability of High School students to take college classes concurrent with high school courses; advancements in remote learning; in-depth studies into underperforming schools, and proposed solutions; how to teach STEM most effectively; advancements in special education...
I reviewed the line-item budget for the Institute of Educational Sciences for this fiscal year (2025). There are large budget items devoted to information gathering and administration, which leaves $380.8
million remaining for actual research and implementation. If The Department of Education is reporting the cuts correctly, then $350 million of that has been cut, leaving only $30.8 million, or less 10%, for Regional Education Laboratories, compared to what was previously devoted to helping students succeed.
The United States' spending on education has failed to keep up with inflation, while other nations prioritize and fully fund robust educations, particularly in science, technology, engineering and math. This has placed high school graduates from the United States at a distinct disadvantage in these areas compared to other countries. Removing the research, development, and implementation of improved methods of educating children is exactly what I would expect from one of the worst educational systems in the modern world.
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