‘Republicans don’t seem to give a rip about the millions of children in our schools,’ Hirono says
Posted: February 20, 2025
U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D, HI) took to the Senate floor Thursday to condemn efforts by President Donald Trump and Republicans to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and cut crucial federal funding for programs relied on by millions of children and families across the country. Just a few days before, U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda (D, HI) defended public school students and teachers during a U.S. Capitol rally, speaking out against Trump budget cuts.
“Despite their promises to make life better for working Americans, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their billionaire buddies have set their sights on gutting support for public education,” Hirono said.
“They have no problem eliminating federal funding for programs that support low-income students, low-income schools, students with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, and much more,” she added.
At a recent U.S. Capitol rally against Trump’s education cuts, Tokuda said, “President Musk and his sidekick Trump and that wrestling lady (Linda McMahon, the professional wrestling executive nominated to lead the U.S Department of Education, which Trump wants to close down). They ain’t never spent a day in a public school.”
“They don’t know what it’s like to learn and to realize this is your greatest chance. Your equalizer. And now they want to shut it down. The very people who paid for their kids to go to private school. They want to take every opportunity away now from our children. Hell no is what I say,” said Tokuda, a Castle High graduate whose two sons attend her alma mater.
“Mahalo, thank you for fighting. We will not stop,” Tokuda told the crowd.
In her Senate floor speech Thursday, Hirono said, “They want to eliminate funding for Title I schools, which support low-income students. We are talking about funding for 49,000 Title I schools throughout the country—including 170 schools in my state of Hawaiʻi,” continued Hirono.
“They have no problem coming after federal funding for programs that provide after-school care, child care, and even school meals,” Hirono said.
During her remarks, Hirono highlighted the importance of the education department’s national school lunch and breakfast programs, which feed nearly 30 million children at 95,000 schools nationwide every day.
“Every single state has thousands of children who rely on the school meals paid for by the federal government,”said Hirono. “For many kids, school meals are the only meals they can count on all day. I can’t believe we are standing here fighting over whether or not kids have the right to eat, but apparently even that is controversial to my Republican colleagues.”
“It’s simple,” concluded Hirono. “We have no business depriving our kids of lunch to fund massive giveaways for Trump and his billionaire buddies.”
How federal budget cuts will affect Hawaiʻi keiki
The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education receives nearly 11% of its annual funding from the federal government.
The U.S. Department provides Hawaiʻi nearly $52 million a year in Title 1 funding, helping more than 96,000 of our most vulnerable students with vital funding to hire teachers and support staff. Losing federal dollars would further exacerbate the educator shortages plaguing Hawaiʻi public schools, causing students’ class sizes to balloon.
The federal education department also supports almost 20,000 Hawaiʻi students with special needs with nearly $38 million in funding every year.
In addition, the U.S. DOE provides our state $500,000 annually to help educate homeless youth.
The Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association’s national affiliate, the National Education Association, is leading and coordinating efforts to protect public school students and educators and fight back against efforts to slash budgets, programs and more. The NEA recently launched a landing page with the latest information: NEA Protect Public Education.