Lombardo supports Trump’s executive order to dismantle education department

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford called out Lombardo for supporting the elimination of the Department of Education, claiming the governor “sold out Nevada’s kids and their futures” and “put Donald Trump over Nevada.”

Gov. Joe Lombardo last week came out in support of President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to dismantle the US Department of Education, a move that would threaten nearly $1 billion per year in funding for Nevada schools and students. 

In an op-ed for the right-wing news outlet Breitbart, Lombardo said that Trump “delivered one of the most influential reforms yet of his presidency” by signing his executive order.

The order formally instructs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to pursue “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States.” 

Over the last five years, Nevada’s schools have received nearly $6 billion in federal funding that helps support homeless youth, rural students, special education programs, and aid to help low-income students seek higher education.

Lombardo claimed the increase in federal funding in recent decades has not improved students’ educational results and has actually “done the opposite.” Citing some of Nevada’s educational struggles, Lombardo argued for “expanding opportunities for school choice and educational freedom,” a move that would potentially siphon taxpayer dollars away from public schools and towards private schools.

In a press conference last week responding to the executive order, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford and education advocates called out Lombardo for supporting the elimination of the Department of Education and highlighted the potential impacts in the state. 

“Joe Lombardo just sold out Nevada’s kids and their futures. Our governor put Donald Trump over Nevada,” Ford said. “It’s not just some harmless restructure. This is billions of dollars ripped away from Nevada’s schools, which will harm Nevada students in the classroom. It’s fewer teachers, it’s bigger class sizes, and it’s the dismantling of programs for kids with special needs.”

Public education advocates also worry that civil rights enforcement in schools and funding equity are also at risk with the dismantling of the Department of Education, especially when Republican lawmakers are making the case for federal public education funding to be converted into block grants, a form of funding that comes with fewer rules and less federal oversight.

In response to Trump’s order, the National Education Association (NEA) filed a lawsuit this week arguing that eliminating the Department of Education without congressional approval is unlawful. The lawsuit argues that the decision puts at risk millions of vulnerable students and jeopardizes more than 400,000 educator jobs. 

Since 2023, Nevada’s K-12 schools have received $993.4 million, or $2,052 per pupil, from the federal government, according to the Education Data Initiative. This includes $621 million in federal Pell Grant funding to aid low-income students attain higher education, $315 million for special education programs, $38 million for career and technical education programs, $3.5 million to ensure homeless youth receive an education, and $1.4 million for rural education programs.

“The power of those dollars shows up in more than just the classroom,” Tomas Macaluso, principal at North Valleys High School in Carson City, said during the press conference “We education leaders are battling chronic absenteeism, it’s our [career and technical education] programs in our schools that offer us not just connecting students to school, but to a successful future — A future that will be in jeopardy with the executive order to eliminate the department of education.”

While signing his order, Trump said federal Pell grants, Title I funding, and resources and funding for children with disabilities would be “preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments.” 

But Ford is not convinced. 

“I don’t believe him. He said that exact same thing about federal financial aid when he fired half of the Department of Education staff, unlawfully by the way, which is why I sued it,” Ford said. “You can’t tell hard working families that you care about education when you actively support ripping away the very resources that help students succeed.”