(File Photo of the Pennsylvania Department of Education Logo)

(Reported by Danielle Smith of Keystone News Service)

(Harrisburg, PA) The Trump administration’s effort to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education is facing strong opposition from the Pennsylvania State Education Association, which calls it unacceptable. The mass firing of 13 hundred employees is seen as part of a broader plan to dismantle the department. Aaron Chapin with the Association says Pennsylvania educators and support staff are concerned about the effect the firings would have on public education. He says the potential loss of Pennsylvania’s one-point-six billion dollars in federal education funding would deeply impact the state’s most vulnerable students. Chapin adds that federal funding supports the jobs of nearly seven thousand Pennsylvania educators and support staff, and losing it would send class sizes soaring. He adds that it would also jeopardize special education services and hurt communities.