Education advocate reacts to executive order dismantling Department of Education

On Thursday, President Trump signed his latest executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, which has many educators confused about what it means and how it will impact them.

Many educators are saying this impacts diversity, equity, and inclusion, commonly referred to as DEI, and for them, it is not clear specifically who this will hurt.    

MORE INFO: Department of Education executive order: what is and isn't affected

“When I hear DEI, I automatically think of 'how does that impact special education students and students with special needs,'” said founder of Oklahoma Rural Schools Coalition Erika Wright.  

She says special needs students are a very diverse group of kids needing efforts toward inclusion upheld.  

Wright says this change could hurt so many and says it piles on another layer of confusion and anxiety for teachers and parents.  

She adds, “What doesn't seem to be part of the point, which should be, is the needs of children that come from diverse backgrounds, that do need to be given equitable programs and be included within their school environment.”

Wright says she feels this could be a movement to get public dollars away from public schools and into private institutions.

“When you talk about these block grants being given to the states to do with whatever they want without any federal oversight, that should be very concerning for states like Oklahoma with a high student population in rural areas,” Wright added.