WARSAW — As President Donald Trump moves forward with the dismantling of the US Department of Education, educators are watching closely to determine exactly what that will mean.

Billions of dollars are at stake for states across the country but there are some signs that money will remain intact as oversight could apparently be shifted to another yet-to-be-determined other area of the federal government.

Warsaw Community Schools Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert sees it developing in one of two directions.

In one scenario, Hoffert speculates, the elimination of the department could essentially mean elimination of the so-called middle man in terms of how money is channeled to local schools.

On the other hand, it could lead to reductions in funding as the Trump Administration, with the Department of Government Efficiency, continues to slash federally funded programs and services.

"I'm really hoping that it's the first one and that you know what 'we're just looking at shifting some of these things and 'we believe in the state control of this,' " Hoffert said.

"And that could be a really good thing for students," he said. 

He also acknowledged that funding cuts are still possible but that maybe it would happen over a series of years

Hoffert made the comments during a taping of In The Know, the public affairs show that can be heard this weekend on Kensington Digital Media radio stations.

Other points of discussion included the expansion of the dual language immersion program into the high school next year and the new transfer rule involving high school athletes.

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In The Know can be heard at the following times:

News Now Warsaw (99.7 FM and 1480 AM):

Fridays at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Saturdays at 7 a.m. 

Sundays at 7 a.m. & 2 p.m.

WRSW (107.3):

Sundays at 6 a.m.

Willie (103.5 FM):

Sundays at 6 a.m.

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Hundreds of irate property owners gathered at the Indiana Statehouse on St. Patrick’s Day to pressure lawmakers into adopting Gov. Mike Braun’s plan for tax cuts, led by popular conservative radio personalities Rob Kendall, Casey Daniels and Jason Hammer.

Speakers had to yell to be heard over the crowd, who called out legislators by name — including Senate Majority Leader Rodric Bray and Rep. Jeff Thompson — and threatened noncompliant politicians with a primary challenger in their next election.

“At the end of this hour, I don’t know what we can do (or) what we can change, but we can call out the weasels that do not have your interests in their interest,” challenged Hammer, who led several call-and-response chants. “If you’re a law-abiding taxpayer and you’re pissed off, on the count of three, make as much noise as you can!”

Hammer co-hosts the Hammer and Nigel Show on radio station WIBC while Kendall and Daniels headline Kendall and Casey, also on WIBC. All three pushed the property tax rally ahead of the Monday event.

Speakers adopted language from national Republican leaders like President Donald Trump and his key adviser Elon Musk, calling for the slashing of government through a DOGE-like entity.

Radio duo Kendall and Daniels explicitly called on lawmakers to adopt Braun’s tax plan, which has been criticized for the deep cuts schools would see alongside smaller — but significant — decreases for counties, cities and townships. Some officials testified earlier this month that they would have to abort plans to expand their fire departments or reduce law enforcement services due to anticipated cuts.

“I’m asking this state government to get back on track and run itself efficiently. It’s not like we’re asking locals and school districts to do anything more,” Braun told the crowd. “Government should be the most powerful at the local level, but they cannot be growing their enterprises faster than the economy grows.”

Braun has criticized schools for their spending, as seen in his property tax plan that would save homeowners a collective $1.3 billion but cost schools $536 million.

A former Dubois County school board member, Braun recalled an instance where the district considered replacing a $16,000 bench because of some peeling paint. Instead, another board member bought paint and hired a correction crew to paint it for $800.

“We’ll land this plane in a good place that gives real relief and keeps our governments healthy,” said Braun. “But if it isn’t for this (rally), they’re going to keep trying to push for nothing. And nothing isn’t good enough.”

More from the property tax rally

Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, who frequently tweeted about the rally ahead of Monday, said that he made the unusual decision to publicly campaign for his seat because “we are being taxed way too much.”

“I’ve heard countless stories from people today and throughout the last two years where their property taxes have increased over 50%, 60% and even 100% in one case,” Beckwith said at the property tax rally. “That is egregious and we need to stop it and we’re going to stop it.”

A trio of Republican house lawmakers called for the complete elimination of the state’s property tax system, echoing sentiments on signs distributed at the rally that read “Property tax is theft.”

“This is a radical idea for some, but what’s so radical about … getting rid of something unconstitutional?” Rep. Craig Haggard, R-Mooresville, said. “You were never meant by the forefathers to pay rent to the federal government, to the state government or to anybody else.”

Rep. Andrew Ireland, who represents a sliver of Marion County, specifically called out spending in Indianapolis on public transit, drag queen story hours at the library and public health investments, likened some of the pushback to changing the diaper of his newborn.

“… when these local leaders come to this building and they tell us, ‘There is nothing to cut. The sky is going to fall if you cut anything.’ It sure smells a lot like that green dirty diaper,” Ireland said.

One elected official from Marshall County said that the system was “so broken that I can’t cut your taxes locally.”

“The system should encourage responsible spending. It should fund the services that people care about but, today, it fails on both counts,” continued Jesse Bohannon, a county commissioner. “ “It punishes budget cutting and encourages aggressive spending. It encourages local governments to hoard money.”

He called for the “billions of dollars locked up” to be refunded to everyday taxpayers, saying government growth has outpaced inflation.

Background on property taxes

Three separate property tax plans have been introduced thus far at the Statehouse from Braun, Senate Republicans and Rep. Jeff Thompson, the House’s key budget architect and chair of the Ways and Means Committee.

Each takes a different approach to property taxes, balancing relief for homeowners with the budget needs of local units of government.

While Braun’s proposal offered the most tax relief, it also sharply reduced school budgets. Thompson’s pitch, on the other hand, had limited savings for homeowners and the smallest cuts for government services.

Braun floated the possibility that he would veto the Senate plan last month. Property tax rally attendees also urged Braun to call for a special session if lawmakers failed to deliver relief.

What will stay in the final version of the property tax bill remains to be seen, but both Republican legislative leaders appear to have gotten their marching orders from Braun on the end goal.

“I think Gov. Braun wants to get to a place where we can say that your property taxes will be lower next year in 2026 than they are in 2025,” Bray told reporters Thursday. “I think that’s a victory for Governor Braun, it’s a victory for us, it’s a victory for homeowners across the state of Indiana. That would be the first and foremost goal.”

House Speaker Todd Huston echoed that aim.

“The goal’s to try and have the ’26 property tax bill be less than the ’25 property tax bill. We’ll see if we can get there,” he told reporters.

When asked, Huston also said he was concerned about rent — noting that some of the increase is in property taxes.

Democrats were more critical.

“We need to provide some relief to Hoosiers … and then we make sure that we listen to our local governments who are saying, ‘Please, we rely on our property taxes to be able to pay for our police, fire, our schools,’” Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder said on Thursday. “And balancing those two are difficult, but we need to make sure that in the end, we get it right.”

Indiana Capital Chronicle Reporter Leslie Bonilla Muñiz contributed to this story.

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The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to giving Hoosiers a comprehensive look inside state government, policy and elections. The site combines daily coverage with in-depth scrutiny, political awareness and insightful commentary.

You can read the original version of the story here.

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WARSAW —  About 25 people, including some well-known local Democrats, turned a meeting planned for constituency services on Monday in Warsaw into a forum to vent anger over President Trump’s slashing of government services.

They also made it clear they want to have a town hall meeting with Rep. Rudy Yakym whose office hosted the meeting originally overseen by a sole staffer.

[caption id="attachment_105714" align="alignright" width="420"] Griffin Nate, district director for Congressman Rudy Yakym, reiterated at least twice that the audience at Monday's gathering needed to be respectful. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

The meeting at Warsaw City Hall turned momentarily raucous as residents complained about the slew of changes ushered in by Trump and specifically Elon Musk.

The meeting was intended to be for constituents who need one-on-one consultations, but apparently, everyone who showed up wanted to discuss policy changes set forth by Trump during his first 30 days in office.

A congressional staffer, Savannah Smallwood, said minutes after arriving at the noon-time meeting that she felt overwhelmed by the crowd and their desire to talk policy rather than discuss individual issues like receiving veterans services.

Often, those kinds of meetings attract very few people, sometimes none, she said.

[caption id="attachment_105716" align="alignright" width="350"] Former Kosciusko County Democratic Chair Brian Smith (Right) said he's worried about the elimination of USAID and a program that combats AIDS in Africa that was established by President George W. Bush. At left is Savvanah Smallwood, a staffer for the office of Congressman Rudy Yakym. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

Tensions escalated after Smallwood put district director Griffin Nate on speakerphone.

Nate demanded those attending be respectful of his staffer.

"This is how this is gonna work," Nate said. "These are not town halls. These are office hours, and so you all are to be respectful of members of my team. What's going to happen is you can speak to her one by one, but we are not offering a group format," Nate said.

Don Zolman, a farmer and businessman, complained about the lack of town halls.

"I have a question for you, sir, when are we going to have a town hall since you are the boss," Zolman said.

"We are not doing a town hall," Nate said.

"Why not?" Zolman asked as others started yelling.

"Because we're not," Nate replied.

Nate pointed out that Yakym regularly travels through the district and meets with groups and businesses and that one of those tours ended last week.

While those are publicized to the media for the sake of coverage, the schedules are not released to the public.

Yakym has never held a public town hall meeting, which follows suit with his predecessor, the late Rep. Jackie Walorski, who only held one in about ten years.

About 50 minutes later, Nate showed up at the meeting and reiterated his demand that people act respectfully.

[caption id="attachment_105717" align="alignright" width="350"] Julie Kuhn expressed concerns over decreased reproductive rights and the thought of seeing Social Security payments cut. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

Both sides accused each other of being disrespectful, but tensions soon settled and everyone who wanted to speak was given a chance.

Among those speaking was Vicki Morton, Kosciusko County Democratic Party Chair who is also a board member for Cardinal Services. She expressed concern over the future of Medicaid funding and the potential cuts to Head Start which is funded through the US Department of Education.

Trump has said he wants to eliminate the Department of Education, which provides money for Head Start.

[caption id="attachment_105715" align="alignright" width="350"] Donald Guthrie said he doesn't mind some reductions but questioned if Congressman Rudy Yakym is providing any oversight over changes being instituted by Elon Musk. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

Former Democratic Party Chair Brian Smith said the plan to dismantle USAID would have far-reaching circumstances.

One of those programs provides essential services for AIDS patients in Africa and was established by President George W. Bush.

Julie Kuhn joined others upset with the role of Elon Musk who appears to be overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency known as DOGE.

She also wondered what would happen if Social Security was cut.

"What if half of my income goes away because of the random eight percent budget cuts? What will I do? What will anyone do?" she said.

Donald Guthrie expressed concern with the lack of apparent oversight.

"For me personally, I don’t have a problem with them scaling back on the government,” Guthrie said. “I want to know what kind of oversight is Congressman Yakym is doing to make sure these choices of letting people go are thoughtful … that they’re not just one guy with some twenty-somethings going through (the process).

A military veteran said he worries that cuts to the Veterans Administration will hurt significantly services.

A woman also brought up national security.

"I am also very upset and concerned that the executive branch seems to be siding with what used to be our enemies and turning away what was our allies," she said. "The executive branch is pretty much stating out loud that we are friends with Russia and throwing Ukraine under the bus. This is a shift in the international order that has kept us safe as a nation for 75-80 years."

Nobody stepped forward to discuss personal constituency issues with the staff.

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