As Congress considers H.R. 899, which would terminate the Department of Education (ED), rural communities face catastrophic losses. According to recently released data, New York alone would lose $5.5 billion annually ($3.2 billion state/$2.3 billion local), forcing property tax hikes—already rural residents’ heaviest burden—to fund schools.
We would also lose Federal programs like the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP), which directly supports underfunded rural districts without raising local taxes. REAP lets local leaders upgrade infrastructure, retain teachers, and expand career training—preserving community control. Thousands of rural schools depend on these funds to avoid program cuts.
This isn’t bureaucracy—it’s fiscal responsibility.
Eliminating Career/Tech Education grants would cripple programs training welders, nurses, and agricultural technicians through partnerships with employers like CABOCES. These initiatives reduce post-graduation social support reliance while strengthening local economies.
Dismantling the ED also threatens Pell Grants for workforce-bound students, school meal programs (shifting costs to states), and protections for disabled children—our most vulnerable. New Yorkers in both parties must ardently defend these lifelines or yield to those who will.
Rural schools anchor communities and economies. Without federal support, towns face grim choices: slash children’s programs or deepen family financial strains. Preserving the ED maintains local decision-making, prevents tax increases, and upholds the rural ideals of opportunity and self-sufficiency. Those who won’t fight for these principles on either side of the aisle don’t deserve rural America’s trust.
Joshua Johnston
Wellsville, NY
