Trump has won the presidency. What does that mean for education? • Nebraska Examiner

WASHINGTON – Donald Trump’s return as president could pave the way for sweeping changes in U.S. education policy.

During his campaign, Trump vowed to “save American education,” focusing on parental rights and universal school choice — a sharp contrast to the Biden administration’s educational achievements.

Now that Trump’s victory in the White House has been confirmed, here’s a look at his stance on education:

Abolishing the U.S. Department of Education

Perhaps Trump’s most far-reaching education plan includes his promise to close the U.S. Department of Education.

The department – ​​only 45 years old – is not responsible for setting the school curriculum, as education in the United States is decentralized. The mission of the agency is to “advance student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by promoting excellence in education and ensuring equal access.”

Trump has repeatedly pushed to move education “back to the states,” even though responsibility for education already falls primarily to states and local governments, which allocate much of the funding for K-12 schools.

Funding increases

Trump has proposed financial boosts for states and school districts that align with his vision for education, including passing a “Parental Bill of Rights that includes full curriculum transparency, and some form of universal school choice.” according to his plan.

He also wants to give funding preferences to schools that move away from “teacher tenure” for grades K-12 and implement “merit pay.”

He could also boost funding for schools whose parents hold direct elections for principals, and for schools where the number of principals is being significantly reduced.

Trump’s plan also includes creating an accreditation body to certify teachers “who embrace patriotic values ​​and understand that their job is not to indoctrinate children, but to educate them.”

He is too threatening to cut federal funding for schools that teach “critical race theory” or “gender ideology” and have pledged to roll back updated Title IX rules under the Biden administration on his first day back in office.

The updated regulations, which the Biden administration released earlier this year, expand federal protections for LGBTQ+ students.

The final rule rolls back changes to Title IX made under the previous Trump administration and then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

A slew of Republican Party-led states have challenged the measure, leading to several legal battles and a policy patchwork across the country.

Student debt and higher education

Trump has criticized the Biden administration’s efforts to forgive student loans, describing them as “not even legal,” and could abandon any massive push for student loan forgiveness.

Trump could revoke the administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, which is currently on hold as it is embroiled in a legal challenge. The sweeping initiative aims to provide borrowers with lower monthly loan payments and shorten the time it takes to pay off their debts.

In the meantime, the 2024 GOP platform called for making colleges and universities “healthy and affordable,” noting that Republicans “will fire radical left accreditors, lower tuition costs, restore due process protections, and pursue civil rights cases against schools that discriminate.” ‘

The platform also calls for lowering the cost of higher education by creating “complementary, dramatically cheaper alternatives to a traditional four-year college degree.”

Trump has also suggested the “American Academy,” a free, online university that he says would be funded through the “billions and billions of dollars we will collect by taxing, fining, and suing excessively large private college funds.”

Project 2025

Beyond the GOP platform and Trump’s proposals, the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 proposes a sweeping conservative agenda that, if implemented, could have major implications for the future of education.

Although Trump has repudiated the conservative think tank’s blueprint, some former members of his previous administration helped craft the agenda.

Some of the education policy proposals described in the extensive document include eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and Head Start, ending time- and appeal-based student loan forgiveness and restoring the Title IX rules created under DeVos.

The proposal also states that “the federal government should limit its involvement in education policy to that of a statistics collection agency that disseminates information to the states.”

Major teachers unions react to Trump’s victory

“The voters have spoken. While we hoped and fought for a different outcome, we respect both their will and the peaceful transition of power,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the nation’s largest teachers unions, said in a statement Wednesday.

“Right now, the country is more divided than ever and our democracy is in danger. Last night we saw fear and anger winning,” Weingarten said.

Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union, said in a statement Wednesday that “this is not the outcome we campaigned for, nor the future we wanted for our students and families, but it is the path through history. we must travel now.”

Last updated at 3:38 PM, November 6, 2024