We need DOE funds

To the editor:

“Breaking: Trump orders Department of Education to be dismantled.”

As a retired educator on Bainbridge Island, my heart is sickened by the deceptive attempt to save money by dismantling a federal office that supplemented much-needed Title 1 funds for special needs, Pell Grants for those needing help for college and protection of our students’ civil rights.

Individual states cannot afford to provide those services, as President Carter realized having seen firsthand the inequities surrounding public education. Private schools and colleges are in no financial position to supplement these funds from their already stretched budgets.

However, if Betsy Devos’ plan is inacted, only those families with funds to educate their children privately will benefit. The Trump/Musk hatchet once again targets primarily the disadvantaged and struggling members of our community.

Barbara Hume

Bainbridge