Pittsburgh, PA − July 15, 2025 − Senator Lindsey M. Williams, Democratic Chair of the Senate Education Committee, issues this statement following yesterday’s Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump Administration to resume dismantling the Department of Education:
“Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision is a slap in the face to students, families, educators, and taxpayers across America.
As Justice Sotomayor said in her dissent, “[This decision] hands the Executive the power to repeal statutes by firing all those necessary to carry them out. The majority is either willfully blind to the implications of its ruling or naive, but either way the threat to our Constitution’s separation of powers is grave.”
President Trump and his professional-wrestler-turned-Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, have made it clear that they are willing to ignore the law and grind to a halt the enforcement of students’ civil rights, leave local school districts who rely on federal funds in the lurch, and throw the student loan repayment system into chaos.
This Court decision comes at the same time Trump Administration froze nearly $7 billion in federal funds geared towards afterschool and summer programs, adult literacy classes, and teacher training. The cuts to the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grants will impact working families who rely on these programs, like those at the West View Hub and Boys and Girls Clubs, to keep their children engaged, safe, and learning all year long. I am grateful that Governor Shapiro has joined a lawsuit to unfreeze this funding, but Pennsylvanians should not have to continually go to court to ensure that Congressionally-appropriated funds are dispersed as required by law.
Chaos is not good governance. It is not efficiency. Ensuring that all students have access to an education that prepares them for college, career, and life benefits all of us. As a member of both the State Board of Education and the PHEAA Board, I know that students and families want well-resourced public schools and affordable higher education.
As Minority Chair of the Senate Education Committee, I take my oversight role seriously. I will continue to call out billionaires and corporations whose goal is to make money off the backs of our children while destroying public education. I will continue to fight to ensure that every Pennsylvania student – from pre-K to college – has access to inclusive, high-quality public education that prepares them for the future.”
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