Trump on Public Education

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This article was originally written in November of 2024.

“We are absolutely at the bottom. We are one of the worst. So you can’t do worse,” (Roeloffs, 2024). These are the cogent words of the recently re-elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, in his description of America’s education system.

On the surface, Trump's concerns have some basis. The U.S. faces falling test scores, rising absenteeism, and teacher shortages; trends exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic (Grose, 2024). Yet, despite these challenges, the U.S. still ranks among the top 15 in most global education rankings, suggesting that Trump’s characterization may be at least slightly hyperbolic. President Trump is using these exaggerations to justify sweeping proposals to reshape federal involvement in education.

Throughout the election cycle, the topic of public education was largely sidestepped, other than the occasional, mostly broad suggestions by both candidates. During the presidential debate, neither candidate addressed education. Throughout the entire presidential campaign cycle, there was very little dialogue focused on single policy education concerns. Regardless, following Donald Trump's nomination, it is worth examining what Trump has said concerning federal education policy during his next administration. 

One of Trump’s campaign promises, and the most well-known proposition Trump made about education, is the elimination of the Department of Education (Roeloffs, 2024). The idea is consistent with Trump's more general approach to consolidation and downsizing of federal power. In his first term, Trump proposed merging the education and labor departments. And although he’s claimed to distance himself from Project 2025, a far-right blueprint for reshaping government designed to be implemented during the first year of a conservative presidency, the initiative includes plans for redistributing the Department of Education's functions across other agencies or to the states (Roeloffs, 2024).

For Trump, the logic behind eliminating the Department of Education is, "sending all education back to the states," and drastically reducing federal oversight. Dismantling it would require Senate approval, making full elimination unlikely (Stanford, 2024). However, his administration might still significantly cut the department’s $238 billion budget (just under 2% of the federal budget) and authority. 

The Department of Education, established in 1979, supports underfunded schools, enforces civil rights protections, assists students with disabilities, tracks education data, advises on policy reform, and oversees student loans. Trump has yet to outline exactly how these functions would be reassigned. Still, he has indicated that similar to Project 2025’s recommendation, states or other federal agencies would absorb these roles.

In addition to targeting K-12 education, Trump aims to reform higher education, which, in his words, is governed by “Marxists, maniacs, and lunatics,” (He replaces the term ‘maniacs and lunatics’ with ‘DEI bureaucrats’ at points during his addresses). Trump proposes restructuring the college accreditation system. While accreditation is external to the Department of Education, individual institutions are accredited by agencies approved by the department. Thus, using his federal jurisdiction, Trump is threatening to replace approved accreditation agencies with ones that would align more clearly with his ideology (Agenda47, 2023).  

In addition, President Trump mentioned implementing entrance and exit exams for all university students. This seems a far less realistic proposal, as implementing national exams could be challenging due to the complexities of higher education oversight, as well as a plethora of other bureaucratic hoops it would need to overcome. The proposal also contradicts the concept of individual choice for states and schools (the philosophy behind eliminating the DoE). However, Trump allows for this exception to his stance on state and individual rights because these exams would be a tool to oppose the content in the university curriculum. Trump claimed, “Academics have been obsessed with indoctrinating America’s youth.” This ‘indoctrination’ as Trump refers to it, is linked with ‘critical race theory and gender ideology,’ (Agenda47, 2023). Exit and entrance exams would emphasize, presumably, teaching values that align closer with Trump’s ideology rather than, again, what he refers to as ‘critical race theory and gender ideology.’

Another major component of Trump’s education policy is school choice, promoting subsidies for students to attend alternatives like private, charter, or homeschooling options. This echoes his 2016 stance, under which then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, an advocate for school choice, redirected department funding toward this cause. DeVos has also supported eliminating the Department of Education and rolling back Obama-era policies, including Title IX protections and rights for transgender students, ideas Trump continues to support (Turner, 2020).

Since the beginning of the 21st century, only a few major education reforms have become law: the No Child Left Behind in 2002 and the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015. Still, with control of the Senate, potential control of the House, and a conservative SCOTUS, Trump’s education proposals at least have a path toward becoming law. 

Returning to some prevalent issues in public education, such as the widening achievement gap between the rich and poor, lower test scores than a decade ago, a smaller pool of teachers, or that four states have made adjustments to what is considered passable and proficient, multiple schools have shut down without enough teachers, and rising absenteeism in schools, it is unclear how Trump’s proposals will address some of the most pressing issues facing the American education system.

Trump seems more obsessed with a scenario where a public school student goes to school and comes back at the end of the day brainwashed. Trump’s answer to this fear is to come out and simply state that he is not in support of public schools. So rather than change the system, he seems more ready to cut federal funding and regulation, letting states try to solve these education problems on their own. 

Also, to be clear, no, America is not at the bottom of education. And yes, you can do a lot worse than what is being done. But there are growing problems in America’s public education system, ones that cannot be ignored, which are prevalent in nearly every state. Despite Donald Trump seeming poised to make education a priority, it is clear that his policy does not address many of the most concerning issues in education today.

Sources

Agenda47: Protecting Students from the Radical Left and Marxist Maniacs Infecting Educational Institutions | Donald J. Trump For President 2024. www.donaldjtrump.com. https://www.donaldjtrump.com/agenda47/agenda47-protecting-students-from-the-radical-left-and-marxist-maniacs-infecting-educational-institutions

Grose, Jessica Opinion | The Education Crisis Neither Candidate Will Address. Nytimes.com. Oct 9, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/09/opinion/covid-education-crisis-election.html

Roeloffs, Mary Whitfill. Will Trump Eliminate The Department Of Education? What We Know As Elon Musk Applauds “Good Idea.” Forbes. Nov 11, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/11/11/will-trump-eliminate-the-department-of-education-what-we-know-as-elon-musk-applauds-good-idea/

Stanford, Libby. Why Trump and Harris Have Barely Talked About Schools This Election. Education Week. Oct 17, 2024. https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/why-trump-and-harris-have-barely-talked-about-schools-this-election/2024/10

Turner, Cory. How Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Will Be Remembered. NPR. Nov 19, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2020/11/19/936225974/the-legacy-of-education-secretary-betsy-devos