“Putting Americans first” doesn’t seem to apply to our schools, environment and the those living in poverty according to President Donald Trump’s preliminary budget proposal for 2018.

Trump wants to cut spending for the Environmental Protection Agency by 39 percent. He said climate change is a “hoax” and a conspiracy theory created by the Chinese, according to Politifact. This kind of thinking is dangerous for the U.S. due to the amount of support he has.

The environment isn’t the only target of Trump’s ridiculous budget proposal. He also wants to provide $168 million for charter school programs and $250 million for new private-school programs. Both of which don’t benefit the public school system.

Trump has relocated funds as an attempt to help students get an education, but there will still be a significant amount of kids who don’t attend private or charter schools.

The 50.4 million kids attending public schools last year aren’t receiving the resources that should be allotted to them, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Public schools can only get better by doing two things: reforming the public school system and creating a positive stigma in inner cities toward education.

If Trump is going to completely abandon the public school system because of its failing trend in inner cities, he’s abandoning the kids who are trying to find a way out of their poverty-stricken neighborhoods.

Public schooling is often the only way to receive an education for many kids with poor backgrounds. Giving up on these kids to pursue private education fails the people who are underprivileged and still a part of the nation.

Funding for education is essential for the growth of kids in the U.S. How Trump’s budget is to be used is indicative of how we’re going to move forward as a country.

The stigma toward education in inner cities needs to change. Having the best schools or teachers means nothing if kids aren’t willing to learn. Schools in inner cities have higher drop-out rates. This is also correlated with gang violence and poverty.

The reason behind the stigma is people giving up on students. There isn’t enough funding for public schools to make teacher’s want to help students or for students to want to succeed.

An essential part of the president’s job is to help kids care about education and to show them the values of going to a trade school or college and earning a degree.

But the lack of funding to support the environment as well as education are two critical flaws in Trump’s proposed budget. Despite his beliefs, climate change is real, and public school’s need funding.

Regardless of whether or not the president believes climate change is a hoax or if the budget will drive more students into private and charter schools, neither is plausible. Americans need to have an access to education and a way to fight climate change.

Roberto Fonseca can be reached at [email protected] or @rjfonseca13 on Twitter.