SUNN Post Exclusive
President Trump’s political record is unprecedented in his willingness to push ahead regardless of party and voter sentiment — but it is perhaps his recent actions against the Department of Education that will prove to be most impactful for Gen Z. Citing overreach, Trump has repeatedly declared that he wants to shut it down entirely. Only Congress has that authority, however.
Trump continues to deny connection to the controversial “Project 2025” conservative goals for his presidency, but much of what Trump has said and done before and since his inauguration has aligned with the Project’s plan to weaken the Department to the point where it is effectively closed. Project 2025 Tracker reports that, of the project’s 22 aims to limit the Department of Education, seven are complete and four are in progress under Trump’s recent executive orders.
In many ways, Trump’s policies in educational reform are a continuation of his political campaign of opposing immigration, the LGBTQ+ community, and diversity initiatives.
Trump first rolled back Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) practices in the January 20th executive order “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” subsequently causing the disbandment of the Diversity and Inclusion Council in the DOE and Employee Engagement Diversity Equity Inclusion Accessibility Council within the Civil Rights office. In the same order, Trump mandated the end of policy and discussion surrounding sexual orientation and gender.
Around 55 employees who have received DEI training in the past are now on permanent leave, with the threat of unemployment looming over their shoulders. Among these employees, three held positions directly related to the DEIA office and others included student loan regulators and workers involved with providing individualized education programs.
These staffing cuts, along with budget cuts, reveal Trump’s intent to weaken the Department of Education before he eliminates it, which concerns many experts, including those involved in managing federal student loans. The loss of institutional knowledge coupled with the lack of funding to hire and train new employees could severely hinder the administration’s ability to give out student loans in the most efficient manner possible.
On Jan. 24, Trump terminated the position of a book ban investigator created during the Biden administration, which was intended to field complaints about book bans occurring on a state and school level, many of which targeted content that included LGBTQ+ characters or discussion of race.
In the Jan. 29 executive order “Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families,” Trump mandated that classrooms teach a “patriotic education” that avoids “indoctrination” based on “gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology.” The order attempts to stop teachers from using trans students’ preferred pronouns or allowing students to use their preferred restrooms. Schools that fail to comply with these new policies are at risk of federal funding withdrawal, according to the order.
In a second Jan. 29 executive order “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” Trump banned the discussion of Critical Race Theory in schools.
At a Feb. 21 governors’ event at the White House, Trump briefly sparred with Maine’s governor Janet Mills after he criticized her for not following his Jan. 20 executive order regarding trans athletes in school sports. In response, Mills explained she’d follow the law, which differs from Trump’s order. She ended the exchange with “I’ll see you in court.”
Responding to Trump’s actions, the National Education Association wrote that “The divisive culture war language used by the administration and its allies to justify its actions does not obscure the true aims of Trump’s agenda—and the very real damage these moves will inflict, especially on the millions of low-income students across the country.”
The American Federation of Teachers union and the American Sociological Association filed a joint lawsuit Feb. 26 against specifically the Trump administration’s Jan. 29 executive order banning discussion of systemic racism.
In an alleged attempt to promote “school choice,” Trump has also increased funding for nonpublic schools — channeling public funds into vouchers that the government then issues to families to apply to charter and private schools of their choice. Critics of the policy cite the poor student performance in “no accountability” areas where vouchers are currently in place and data showing that the practice still leaves low-income students at the worst schools with few to no local options available. As a result, many doubt that the continuation of this policy will improve national educational standards, fearing that this decision will further perpetuate the racial discrepancies already present in education — children who attend top private schools will likely remain predominantly white, critics contend, stemming from a history of white parents pushing back against the desegregation of public schools.
In a “Dear Colleague” letter to schools on Feb. 4, the Trump administration reversed Biden-era Title IX guidance for schools that Trump said gave too much power to alleged sexual assault victims at the expense of the alleged abusers’ rights.
Going against a 13-year-old precedent for immigration enforcement, Trump also revoked limitations on where ICE agents may make arrests, now allowing officers to make arrests at schools, hospitals, and places of worship — opening undocumented children up to arrests during school hours. However, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law, states that most student information needs to be kept confidential without parents’ permission, and a 1982 Supreme Court precedent gives undocumented students a right to free public education — so many schools are already taking steps to protect their undocumented students.
The remaining Project 2025 goals, sacnctioned by members of Trump’s cabinet, are extensions of what he’s already put into place, including ending Title 1 grants for low-income areas whose lower tax revenues impact school budgets, and enforcing parents’ rights over children’s requests or school officials’ judgment.
At the end of February, Trump-directed Department of Education officials urged staff to retire, offering them a benefits package as incentive before “very significant” layoffs begin this month.