GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — As President-elect Donald Trump continues to create a plan for his next presidency, many are wondering what the future of education will look like under his administration.
That includes Clark Hill Education Law Attorney Marshall Grate, who said Trump's possible changes would impact different levels of education.
The Department of Education was founded in 1979 to centralize control over federal money being dispersed to schools.
On the campaign trail, Trump unveiled his plans to eliminate the Department of Education because of what he said is an overreach from the agency. He also would change or even restrict funding for schools.
"If you take away money that is supposed to provide additional assistance to that vulnerable group, I think the potential would be that that group is going to fall further behind academically," said Grate.
He also believes the new changes could potentially cause a political divide.
"President Reagan tried to get rid of the department, and was not successful. It was created by an act of Congress. The Democratic caucus would vigorously oppose the elimination of the department because of their important constituents, which include the teacher unions and education institutions. So really, you're talking about a vote of 60 in the Senate to get around a filibuster," said Grate.
For the most part, education is run at the local and state levels but Grate said Trump's proposed changes would have a big impact on schools.
"About 10% of kindergarten through 12 public school districts' budgets come from the United States Department of Education, mostly in the form of what we call title money and grants that is designed to provide resources to disadvantaged students based on social economic demographics or disabilities so that would be affected," said Grate.
In response to Trump's proposed new changes, Grate believes the role of public education in the country is important, and he hopes it continues to help propel students' success through their lives.
"It is a wonderful institution. It has to educate every child, regardless of background, demographic, race, disability or non disability. Public education is the gateway for students' success later in life, economically, socially or whatever. I think it's a vital institution that we need to be very careful about and support," said Grate.