Larger classrooms and teacher layoffs could be the biggest blow to the GOP's base from possible federal education cuts.

A community that once drove the country was forgotten when the coal mines in Bell County, Kentucky, shuttered, leaving it with few opportunities for good-paying work. Despite the breathtaking views of the Appalachian Mountains and the deserted storefronts, many of its citizens today live in poverty.

It's the kind of location where President-elect Donald Trump's "America First" slogan struck a chord, but it's also where some of his proposed policies, particularly his pledge to cut federal funding for public schools and abolish the Department of Education, might have the biggest impact. Although it has been greater recently because to Covid-19 relief funding, the Bell County school system normally receives 10% of its budget from federal grants. Students and their families could suffer greatly from even a small cut in those family funds," the superintendent of the district, Tom Gambrel, stated. It would result in larger class sizes, teacher layoffs, and less focus on the most vulnerable pupils.