Making good on one of his signature campaign promises.

President Donald Trump today signed an executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

He has called the department wasteful and filled with, quote, liberal ideology.

Steps have already been taken to dismantle the agency.

Almost half of its workforce has been cut, and hundreds of millions of dollars in diversity, equity and inclusion grant funding has been canceled.

The white House says the department would not close completely right away and will continue to deliver certain critical functions, like managing federal student loans and Pell Grants.

Abolishing the Education department will likely require an act of Congress.

What is the financial impact of such a move to Kentucky?

Well, according to the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, the state receives more than $1 billion annually and federal education funding.

That funding supports the employment of more than 4000 teachers, counselors and other school employees across the state, and more than 456 million and federal funding goes to support low income students and special education programs.

It's because of those numbers that Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman says Kentucky students and their families will be irreparably harmed by the move to eliminate the department of Ed.

She, along with parents of students who rely on federal funding, spoke recently about the potential fallout today.

I am here to sound the alarm because if the U.S. Department of Education is dismantled, it is states like Kentucky that will suffer the most.

And the people who stand to lose the most are our most vulnerable.

Tyler is 14.

He's funny.

He's creative, caring.

He's really smart.

From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I promised myself that I would always be his strongest advocate and his loudest cheerleader no matter what.

But I never could have anticipated how that promise would truly be tested once he entered daycare and school very quickly.

In kindergarten, he was diagnosed with ADHD, and then later on he was diagnosed with high functioning autism.

When he was in elementary school, he spent most of his days in this highly structured classroom.

That was home for his special needs.

He received the critical support that he needed every day with people that really cared.

These services and these moments of understanding have been his lifeline.

They've allowed him to have individualized plans, learn coping skills, set goals, get the knowledge that he needed, and the confidence to not just survive in school, but to truly thrive and enjoy learning.

So without this support, Tyler wouldn't be the flourishing and successful and happy eighth grader that he is today.

My son Jack is a 14 year old eighth grader with down syndrome, ADHD, anxiety, and a whole lot of spunk.

Jack has a host of additional medical, behavioral, and academic challenges on his resume, and the joy of watching him navigate his education, strengths and stretches included, has been pure delight, a true tribute to the protection of those federal laws.

The funding and the policy.

Without these critical services and funding attached to them, my son and countless children across the Commonwealth who have disabilities would face an education system that not only limits their learning, but limits their opportunities.

And I know that that isn't the Commonwealth that we want for our children.

If those services are cut, it's not just his academic future at risk, it's his emotional well-being.

I'm not just talking about services for my son, but for all the children like him, children who need extra time, the extra care, the extra understanding.

These cuts don't just impact families like mine.

They impact our future, the future of countless children who have the potential to do incredible things if they're only given the tools that they need to succeed.

Continuing to pivot resources away from the Department of Education means pivoting and resources away from Kentucky schools and districts that have already have the least will be hurting the most.

We have to stop shortchanging our schools.

We have to stop using our teachers and most certainly our students, as political footballs.

Just think about what it says to our kids, our communities, our country and the world that the United States of America would rather dismantle the U.S. Department of Education than invest in the kids and families who need it the most.

Coleman pointed out that almost every Kentucky student that goes to college or vocational training relies on some form of federal funding to pay for their education.