Another Great Education Robbery: Trump And The GOP’s Plan To Starve Rural Schools

How a Few Goats Save Trump Millions While Schools Crumble

On Friday, NPR’s Morning Edition covered the crisis Trump and Musk— and the lady wrestler— and creating for rural schools in their headlong rush to realize the GOP dream of shuttering the Department of Education. “Congress established Title I to provide money to K-12 schools in low-income communities,” reported Jonaki Mehta. “In the current fiscal year, the Department of Education set aside more than $18.38 billion for Title I. Nearly 90% of U.S. school districts benefit from the program, which has historically enjoyed bipartisan support among lawmakers. The Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) awards money to low-income and rural school districts. More than a quarter of the country's public schools are in rural areas. And while REAP is a fraction of the size of Title I— $215 million for the current year— Amy Price Azano of Virginia Tech's Center for Rural Education says those dollars stretch much further in rural communities. ‘We work with school districts that have 10 people in a graduating class. So when you're talking about enough money to get the one student who needed a paraprofessional to walk across that stage,’ a little bit goes a long way. These federal grants can pay for things like school staff salaries, supplies, technology, tutoring programs and a range of basic services that low-income schools may not otherwise be able to afford.”

Determining a school district's eligibility for REAP and Title I from one year to the next takes a lot of number crunching.

For grants that go to rural schools through the REAP program, NCES plays a direct role in creating the relevant data and providing assistance to local school leaders.

For Title I, NCES works with the U.S. Census Bureau to analyze school district boundaries, income levels and other characteristics that help the Department of Education determine grant eligibility.

But by the end of the day on Friday, all but three NCES staffers will be locked out of their computers and on administrative leave.

“The key issue is that— as things stand now— the data needed to drive the next round of Title I, and grants to rural schools, and grants to other programs, isn't going to happen as a result of the cuts to NCES staff and contracts," said one former NCES employee.

…Rural education expert Amy Price Azano says, while rural schools are used to having fewer resources, the loss of REAP funds will strain them even more.

“They’re doing more with less anyway. And so the risk now is that they will have to be even more resilient. They will have to do even more with even less."

Though Trump is a farmer himself, at least according to New Jersey tax records, these cutbacks won’t impact the educations of any of his children or grandchildren. You didn’t know Trump is a farmer? Really? It’s no secret that he keeps 7 or 8 goats on his Bedminster Golf Course and family cemetery to avoid taxes. A portion of the property—specifically 119 acres— is registered as a working farm, allowing the crooked Trump to significantly reduce his property taxes. The “farm” is made up of the small herd of goats and 113 acres dedicated to hay production. Under New Jersey's Farmland Assessment Act of 1964, landowners can qualify for a substantial tax reduction— up to 98%— if they dedicate at least five acres to agricultural activity and generate a minimum of $1,000 annually from it. By meeting these criteria, Trump has been able to pay as little as $700 in property taxes annually for the farm portion, compared to the roughly $400,000 he pays for the 244-acre golf course portion, which is taxed at a higher rate. Señor Trumpanzyy has used this tax strategy since he first acquired the property in 2002. Estimates suggest it saves him approximately $88,000 to $199,000 per year, depending on the assessed value and tax rates, potentially totaling millions over the past two decades. The practice is legal under New Jersey law and there are something like 300 other multimillionaires who do the same thing in New Jersey. 

It exploits a loophole originally intended to support struggling farmers, not affluent property owners with golf courses. It raises several ethical questions, as much of what Trump does, especially if you think the intent behind the law matters. The Farmland Assessment Act was designed to support genuine farmers facing economic pressures, not to benefit wealthy landowners with luxury estatess. Using it this way  undermines its purpose, exploiting a loophole at the expense of taxpayers who don’t have similar resources. It’s especially unfair and selfish, when the savings— millions over years— come while public services like schools or infrastructure, funded partly by property taxes, go underfunded.

I doubt Trump has ever thought much about this but there’s also the broader question of wealth and responsibility. Those with significant means, like Trump, have a moral duty to contribute more to society rather than minimize their tax burden through technicalities. This also brings up a deeper angle: the expectations we place on leaders. If someone’s leading a nation, there’s an argument they should model a higher standard, not just skate by on what’s technically allowed. The idea of a “shady tax avoidance scheme” suggests something that, while legal, feels deceptive or exploitative, especially for someone with public influence. A leader using the goat-and-hay tactic to save a relatively small amount— say, $88,000 a year— when they’re worth billions could look petty or out of touch, eroding trust. People might ask: if they’re this focused on personal gain within the system, how will they prioritize the public’s needs?

Look, I hate to say it— not really— but Trump’s goat farm grift is a perfect metaphor for his entire career— a man who builds nothing, contributes nothing, and yet finds ways to drain the system for his own benefit. He’s spent decades scamming banks, taxpayers and even his own supporters while giving nothing back. Now, he’s coming for rural schools— and if he gets his way, thousands of low-income kids will be left even further behind, while he keeps pocketing tax breaks for goats he’s never even laid eyes on.

This is the essence of Trumpism: gut public institutions that serve ordinary people while bending every rule in the book to hoard wealth and power for himself and his billionaire allies. It’s not just unethical— it’s a calculated attack on the idea that government should do anything at all to level the playing field. The billionaire class Trump serves doesn’t just want lower taxes; they want a future where public education is starved to death, leaving only expensive private schools for the rich and underfunded scraps for everyone else.

There’s no clearer sign of what’s at stake going forward. This isn’t just about Trump’s corruption— it’s about the future of public education itself. He’s openly promising a country where billionaires pay nothing and working-class kids get nothing. The question is whether enough people will see through the con before it’s permanently too late— if it already isn’t. The Supreme Court election is Wisconsin and the congressional special election in FL-06, both 8 days from today, should tell us a lot.