RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Richmond Public School (RPS) teacher is weighing in on President Donald Trump’s executive order to eliminate the Department of Education (DOE).  On Thursday, March 20, the president signed an executive order to shut down the department, calling it “wasteful.” R iver City Middle School social studies teacher Jason Rodrigues said he and his colleagues are frustrated but more worried about how the order could impact his students. “I feel like my country spat in my face,” Rodrigues said. “I love being able to empower my students with knowledge of history, to be able to avoid making the mistakes of the past. And with what we're dealing with now, it's only going to make it harder for teachers.” RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras sent a statement on Friday, assuring nothing would change for schools. Kamras also said teachers would not lose their jobs and critical programs would not end. However, RPS leaders said the DOE primarily distributes money for low-income families and students with disabilities, enforces civil rights laws to protect students and staff from discrimination, administers the federal college loan program and gathers and shares data about public education in the U.S.  Rodrigues fears his students are the ones who could suffer the most. “I teach in a very low-income area. The diversity of my school is primarily Hispanic and Black and those students are the ones that are not going to get the help that they desire, that they need,” Rodrigues said. “It's going to make it harder for us to be able to do what we need to do with our students, because not just the funding, but all the protections that are in place for our students, especially for those that have learning disabilities,” Rodrigues said. President Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon have said the department will still administer basic programs to help those students. Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) showed his support, saying the order will effectively end "'all taxpayer support for 'DEI' and institutions that use race and sex as a deciding factor in policies and procedures." He also said the power belongs with the states to dismantle the DOE, not the federal government.  In the meantime, Rodrigues said he will continue to educate his students in the classroom -- and about what's going on. “We’re still coming to school, you don’t get to get out of school,” Rodrigues said. “We going to continue to teach you. We’re going to continue to make sure you’re in a safe space.” ...read more read less