The longest federal government shutdown in history—lasting 43 days—did not stop the members of the National Student Council (NSC) from making their voices heard.
David Arowolo, president of the NSC and a junior at Eastern Technical High School in Essex, was one of many NSC representatives across 21 states, Washington. D.C., Guam and Puerto Rico that gathered in Capitol Hill a couple of weeks ago to meet with members of Congress about educational policy and issues that are important to students.
Arowolo notes that proposed cuts to education funding and policy have hit Baltimore particularly hard already.
“Baltimore has experienced significant cuts from our state budget deficit earlier, and [from] the Department of Education,” he explains. “My school, like many others, has had teachers leaving each year, resources depleting, and with CTE (Career and Technical Education) state grants hanging in the balance, I don’t know what that will mean for us.”
No Time Like the Present
While the trip to Capitol Hill is an annual tradition for the National Student Council, this year’s meeting carried a different tenor than previous years. Since the beginning of 2025, nearly half of the Department of Education’s employees were laid off, and between Oct. 1 and Nov. 13, 90% were furloughed because of the shutdown.
During that time, education funding was not being distributed to schools across the country that rely on it, so it was more important than ever to advocate for their needs.
This year, the NSC also had to advocate for policies that would keep existing programs funded and operational. Title I, which funds schools serving low-income populations; Title II, which funds training for teachers; and Title IV, which has become a crucial source of funding for mental health services in schools; are all under threat of budget cuts and even being defunded entirely. Though a temporary bill that passed Nov. 12 to end the shutdown reversed layoffs and helped fund education through Jan. 30, a final budget for fiscal year 2026 has not been passed.
“Politicians don’t see the harsh realities our society encounters in education,” Arowolo says. “That’s why we made it our mission to put stories and faces to the statistics they hear. To remind them that the programs they gut affect real people, real students.”
