WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump’s vision for education revolves around one goal: to rid America’s schools of “wokeness” and “left-wing indoctrination.”
The president-elect wants to ban classroom lessons on gender identity and structural racism. They want to eliminate the office of diversity and inclusion. They want to keep transgender athletes out of girls’ sports.
During the campaign, Republicans portrayed schools as a political battleground to be won from the left. Now that he has won the White House, he plans to use federal money as leverage to advance his vision of education across the country.
Trump’s education plan promises to cut funding for schools that disagree with him on many issues.
On his first day in office, Trump has repeatedly said he will cut funding to “any school that pushes critical race theories, transgender bigotry, and inappropriate racial, sexual or political content to our children.” On the campaign trail, Trump said he would “not give one cent” to schools with vaccine or mask requirements.
He said he would do so by executive action, though some supporters say he does not have the authority to make such swift and swift changes.
Trump’s opponents say his vision of America’s schools is being clouded by politics — that the kind of liberal indoctrination he’s fighting is fiction. He said the proposal would undermine public education and harm students who need school services the most.
“It’s fear-based, non-factual information, and I would call it propaganda,” said Wil Del Pilar, senior vice president for the Education Trust, a research and advocacy organization. “There is no evidence that students are taught to question sexuality in school. There is no evidence that our American education system is full of maniacs.
Trump’s platform calls for “massive funding preferences” for states and schools that end teacher tenure, implement universal school choice programs and allow parents to vote for principals.
Perhaps his most ambitious pledge is to shut down the U.S. Department of Education, a goal of conservative politicians for decades, saying it has been hacked by “radicals.”
Public K-12 schools in America receive about 14% of their revenue from the federal government, primarily from programs targeting low-income students and special education. Most of the school’s money comes from local taxes and the state government.
Colleges are more dependent on federal money, especially grants and loans the government gives students to pay for tuition.
Trump’s most powerful tool to put money into schools is his authority to enforce civil rights — the Department of Education has the power to cut federal funding to schools and colleges that fail to follow civil rights laws.
The president can not immediately cancel the money from many districts, but if the target is some through the question of civil rights, others will likely fall in line, said Bob Eitel, president of the conservative Defense of Freedom Institute and education officer. Trump’s first term. The authority could be used to search schools and colleges that have offices of diversity and inclusion or those accused of antisemitism, Eitel said.
“This is not a Day One funding loss,” Eitel said, referring to Trump’s campaign pledge. “But at the end of the day, the president will resolve this issue, because I think there are some real legal issues.”
Trump also hinted at potential legislation to deliver on some of his promises, including fines for universities on diversity initiatives.
To get the college to shut down its diversity program — which Trump says is discriminatory — he said he “will take steps to fine him up to the entire amount of the endowment.”
The platform also called for a new free online university called the American Academy, which would be paid for by “taxes, fines and demanding private university endowments.”
During his first term, Trump occasionally threatened to cut funding from schools that opposed him, including those that have been slow to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic and colleges accused of curbing free speech.
Most of his threats came to nothing, though he succeeded in getting Congress to increase taxes on wealthy university endowments, and his Department of Education made changes to the rules on campus sexual assault.
The university hopes its relationship with the administration won’t be as antagonistic as Trump’s rhetoric suggests.
“Education has become an easy target during the campaign season,” said Peter McDonough, general counsel for the American Council on Education, an association of university presidents. “But a partnership between higher education and the administration would be better for the country than an attack on education.”
Trump’s threat of severe punishment appears to be at odds with another pillar of education – the federal government’s extraction of schools. In closing the Department of Education, Trump said he would return “all the education work and it should go back to the state.”
“We are going to stop education coming out of Washington, DC,” Trump said on his website last year. In the platform, he promised to ensure that schools are “free from political interference.”
Instead of letting states and schools decide their stance on polarizing issues, Trump proposed a blanket ban that fits his vision.
Taking a neutral stance and letting states decide would not deliver on Trump’s campaign promises, said Max Eden, a senior fellow at AEI, a conservative think tank. For example, Trump plans to rescind guidance from President Joe Biden’s administration that extends Title IX protections for LGBTQ+ students. And Trump is going even further, promising to ban transgender women from women’s sports.
“Trump is running to keep boys out of girls’ sports. He won’t let boys play in girls’ sports in blue states if they want to,” Eden said.
Trump also wants to address the school curriculum, vowing to fight for “patriotic” education. He promised to restore the 1776 Commission, which was created in 2021 to promote patriotic education. The panel produced a report that called progressivism a “challenge to American principles” along with fascism.
Adding to that effort, Trump proposed a new credentialing body to certify teachers “who embrace patriotic values.”
Some of the biggest education goals can be accomplished quickly, and many require new acts of Congress or federal processes that typically take months.
More quickly, he plans to rescind executive orders issued by Biden, including one promoting racial equality in the federal government. He also expects to quickly repeal or rewrite Biden’s Title IX rules, though finalizing those changes would require a longer rulemaking process.
Trump has yet to detail his student loan plan, though he has called Biden’s cancellation proposal illegal and unfair.
Most of Biden’s signature education initiatives have been put on hold by the courts amid legal challenges, including proposals for widespread debt cancellation and lower loan repayment plans. The plan could be scrapped or rewritten after Trump takes office.
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