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Vulnerable students will be among those most hurt by President Trump’s executive order to shutter the federal Department of Education, experts say.

Trump’s actions will “have disastrous consequences for our schools. It will mean less resources for special education, for teacher training, and for individualized attention to the learning needs of each child. That these cuts are made to fund a tax cut for large corporations makes the sacrifice of our schools even more unbearable,” California Sen. Adam Schiff said in a statement. “Firing thousands of education professionals and causing the layoffs of thousands more will impede the development of an entire generation of students across America.”

California received $1.5 billion in special education funding from the federal government for the 2024-25 school years, according to the state Department of Education. It received nearly $3.3 billion in federal funding under the Under Every Student Succeeds Act as well as other disbursements such as $5.7 million in discretionary grant funding for nutrition services, according to the state.

President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to begin dismantling the US Department of Education, raising new questions for public schools and parents.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that “attempting to dismantle the Department of Education is one of the most destructive and devastating steps Donald Trump has ever taken.” He warned the “horrible decision” will hurt kids, parents and increase property taxes.

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren slammed the move as a “code red for every public school student, parent, and teacher in this country.” In a statement, she said they will “pay a heavy price.”

President Trump's long-anticipated action will affect how billions of dollars in federal funding for California will be distributed to millions of students, educators and institutions.

Trump’s impact on education already has been substantial in California. The administration yanked federal funding from entities that don’t go along with his agenda, especially Trump’s opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion programs, or DEI, and his efforts to remove transgender students as a protected group under anti-discrimination laws.

Despite having some of the nation’s strictest school vaccination laws, California reported a decline last year in the share of kindergarten students who were immunized against measles, including in 16 counties where students no longer have herd immunity against one of the most contagious diseases. 

Santa Clara County laid off Head Start teachers and staff amid uncertainty over whether the federal government will continue to pay for the program.

Head Start is a federal preschool program for children living below the federal poverty line. The program run by Santa Clara serves about 1200 children, including infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

When the Trump administration announced last week that about half the staff of the U.S. Department of Education were to be laid off, the slashing closed down the San Francisco regional branch of the Office for Civil Rights responsible for providing the state’s students protection from discrimination.

The California office handled a bulging caseload of students, families and school staff: alleged unequal academic instruction for disabled students; allegations of campus sexual assault; claims of unfair discipline meted out to students of color; alleged bullying of LGBTQ+ students.

For parents of kids with disabilities, advocating for their child can be complicated, time-consuming — and expensive. Changes at the Education Department are likely to make the process even more difficult, advocates for kids with disabilities say. 

Napa Valley Unified School District has spent the last five years in cost-cutting mode — closing schools, reducing staff and managing declining enrollment.

The school board is expected to vote Thursday night on cutting 34 staff positions — 10 full-time certificated roles and 24 classified positions, most of them part-time. If approved, affected certificated employees must be notified by Saturday.