CONTACT INFORMATION:
comms@ncapaonline.org
[***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***]
RELEASE DATE
March 7, 2025
NCAPA issued the following response to President Trump’s Executive Order to dismantle the Department of Education:
President Trump’s anticipated executive order to dismantle the Department of Education is a reckless attack on our nation’s educational system and the students it serves. Let’s be clear: this is an assault on opportunity, equity, and the educational success of millions of students – including Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, and other students of color. NCAPA unequivocally rejects this dangerous and shortsighted agenda that prioritizes tax cuts for billionaires by gutting critical agencies and services, all while creating an uncertain future for students across the country.
Federal programs like Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs) and the Native Hawaiian Education program provide essential culturally relevant support, particularly for AANHPIs from underserved communities. Eliminating the Department of Education would strip away these critical programs, widen educational disparities, and leave student borrowers in the dark about loan repayment plans and forgiveness options – undermining decades of progress for AANHPI students.
The department also plays a crucial role in enforcing civil rights protections, ensuring that all students – regardless of race, gender, or disability – have equal access to quality education. Without these protections, marginalized communities will bear the brunt of deepened inequities that deny them the fair and equal education they deserve.
NCAPA will fight this executive order by mobilizing communities, working with lawmakers, and demanding that Congress block this dangerous move. The future of our students is on the line, and we will not stand by while their rights and opportunities are stripped away.
NCAPA National Director Gregg Orton added: “Every American family ought to take a moment and reflect on what the Trump Administration is actually proposing. They cite poor academic performance as the basis for closing the Department of Education, but their solution is more tax cuts for the rich, rather than continuing to invest in students. At best, this is a decision that will ensure less opportunity and a diminished future for most children. At worst, it is an insult and huge setback for hard working families who know that investing more—not less—in our kids’ education is how we set them up for success.”
Based in Washington, D.C., the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans is a coalition of 44 national Asian Pacific American organizations. We represent the interests of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities and provide a national voice for our communities’ concerns.