What Trump’s Threatened Education Cuts Mean for Students, Schools

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 12 March 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Trump Administration cut $400 million in grants to Columbia for its alleged failure to address anti-semitism on campus. And 60 more universities are on Trump’s target list for similar cuts, including UC Berkeley, all while the federal Department of Education is on the chopping block. We’ll talk about the potential impacts on students from kindergarten to college, and why the Department of Education has long been in Republican crosshairs. Guests: Eric Kelderman, senior writer, The Chronicle of Higher Education Erica Meltzer, national editor,Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization that covers education; Meltzer covers education policy and politics for Chalkbeat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort in Baja, California, just an hour from San Diego.
0:07.6	Three, four, and seven-night summer packages include fitness classes, hiking, live music, mindfulness, and culinary adventures, featuring fruits and veggies straight off the vine.
0:18.9	Special rates and offers are available for summer stays and first-time guests.
0:23.8	Saver summer at Rancho LaPuerta, rancho LaPuerta.com.
0:28.3	Support for Forum comes from Broadway SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:35.7	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of
0:40.0	Leo and Lucille Frank, a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is
0:46.9	accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice,
0:54.1	and devotion.
0:55.8	The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th.
1:04.2	Tickets on sale now at Broadway, sF.com.
1:09.0	From KQED.
1:11.6	Music From KQED. From KQED. From KQED.
1:26.6	Yesterday, the Trump administration announced that it was firing more than 1,300 workers from the Education Department,
1:33.3	nearly 50% of its employees, in effect gutting the agency.
1:38.3	This comes as the department has led the way in cutting $400 million in grants to Columbia University
1:43.3	for its alleged failure in handling
1:45.8	claims of anti-Semitism on campus. And 60 more universities, including UC Berkeley, have been
1:51.7	notified they are being investigated on similar grounds. We'll talk with education reporters about what
1:57.5	these mass layoffs and investigations mean for education in the U.S.
2:01.9	All that right after this news.
2:07.9	Welcome to Forum. I'm Grace Wan, in for Alexis Matricle.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.