LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva spoke Tuesday on the possibility of the U.S. Department of Education being shut down by the forthcoming presidential administration.
Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R-Branch) asked Oliva about the impact a DOE shutdown would have on individual states during a meeting of the legislature’s joint budget committee following news reports of President-elect Donald Trump’s possible plans to eliminate the agency.
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Oliva explained that there could be benefits from that scenario, given the lack of independence he feels states have because of DOE funding.
“I think the hope and the desire is that we would still continue to receive that allocation without the bureaucracy red-taping the strings that the feds like to put on those dollars,” Oliva said.
Oliva said he’d like to see Congress still provide money to Arkansas to fill in the gaps of what would be missing from his department, adding that the state currently receives money from the DOE, especially for students in special education.