“But many advocates and policymakers fear that the research cuts will mean they have less information about student learning going forward.

“My gut is that it is a lot harder to fix inequalities if you can’t see them, and that is the point,” said Allison Socol, vice president of P-12 policy, practice, and research at Ed Trust, an advocacy group.

To Socol of Ed Trust, Trump’s second term has shown that critical federal functions like protecting civil rights and disseminating research were taken for granted. If the federal government steps back from those roles, local decisions become paramount, she said.

Some communities “will continue to uphold what’s good and right for kids and advance equity,” she said, and others will take the changes in Washington as “permission to walk away” from their commitments. It’s up to parents and community members to pay attention and help decide which way their districts go, she said.”

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