Could Trump’s dismantling of the Department of Education affect NM schools? Here’s what we know.

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Thursday eliminating the Department of Education. However, it is unclear how the ripple effects could be felt in New Mexico.

Trump’s pending signature would fulfill a longstanding campaign promise to dismantle the department — which shells out billions of dollars to primary, secondary and post-secondary institutions — and comes at a time when sweeping cuts are being made to numerous federal programs and departments.

But the question remains whether funding distribution will be taken on by another department or disappear altogether.

“It’s too early to know how President Trump’s plans to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education would affect New Mexico and Albuquerque Public Schools,” APS spokesperson Martin Salazar wrote in an email to the Journal.

And it seems APS is still banking on receiving federal dollars.

“It appears the federal funding (that) schools across the country rely on will continue even if the Department of Education is eliminated,” Salazar added. “Our biggest concern is the funding we rely on for our most vulnerable children.”

According to its 2024 budget, APS received some $345 million in federal grants and $37.9 million of its budget is allocated to Title I schools where a majority of students are economically disadvantaged.

Project 2025, a 900-page policy plan from conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation and penned by some key staffers from Trump’s first term, calls to eliminate Title I funding.

The uncertain impacts of dismantling the Department of Education also loom over post-secondary institutions.

The University of New Mexico system — the state’s largest — also displayed hesitancy to elaborate on the implications of the executive order.

“To avoid amplifying uncertainty or disrupting our work unnecessarily, we have established a general response philosophy that we will only respond to specific and actionable federal requirements or actions,” UNM spokesperson Cinnamon Blair told the Journal.

The university is “closely monitoring national developments and their potential impacts” and will provide more guidance when it is available, Blair added.

A spokesperson for the state’s Public Education Department told the Journal to ask the Governor’s Office for a response to the order. The Governor’s Office said it could not provide comment by the Journal’s deadline.

A draft of Trump’s executive order was first obtained and reported by The Wall Street Journal earlier in the month, and instructs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps” to close the department.

The executive order is set to be signed just over a week after 1,300 jobs were eliminated in the department, slicing it in half.