Trump’s been elected; it’s not good for education

An analysis on what impact Trump’s proposed policies will have for education

Staff Writer

With the election now over, Donald Trump has now been given a say in the future of education for K-12 and college students nationwide. President-elect Trump’s Agenda 47 lays out a general overview of what students should be expecting from his policies. Of the policies that directly affect students, he focuses on changing what students are taught and how schools and students are funded. Although there are issues plaguing education such as staff shortages, lack of funding, and declining student performance, Trump’s policies not only fail to address these problems, but actively threaten to worsen them. His proposals, including closing the Department of Education and restricting the scope of classroom content, prioritize his political agenda over the well-being of students and the quality of their education.

Trump’s Agenda 47 proposes removing the Department of Education, stating on his website that, “We are going to close the Department of Education in Washington, D.C. and send it back to the states, where it belongs, and let the states run our educational system as it should be run. Our great teachers, who are so important to the future well being of our country, will be cherished and protected by the Republican Party so that they can do the job of educating our students that they so dearly want to do.”

A side effect of the removal of the Department of Education may be the decline of federal grants. According to the Office of Federal Student Aid (which is an office of the Department of Education), “1,400 employees help make college education possible for every dedicated mind by providing more than $114 billion in federal grants, work‑study funds, and loans each year to more than 9.7 million students paying for college or career school.” The potential removal of government aid, unless replaced at the state level, is a heavy blow to students planning to apply to college or career schools. Best case scenario, these financial grants get pushed onto other departments in order to keep allowing students to afford education. Worst case scenario, millions of students are required to take out private student loans to fund their college education.

Another one of Trump’s core promises is to “cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, radical gender ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children.” Trump’s proposal to cut funding could significantly shape what students are and aren’t allowed to learn in the classroom, as the broad description used in the policy includes a wide variety of topics. This limits the depth and diversity of our education, making it harder for students at AHS to engage with topics that encourage critical thinking about social issues, history, and identity. A wider range of topics taught allows students to build up a healthy and unbiased opinion of the political stage.

Agenda 47 isn’t centered on helping students. Since K-12 students are not eligible voters, they lack influence over the election’s outcomes. Rather than wasting resources appealing to students, politicians prioritize targeting parents, who hold the power to vote. In fact, one of Agenda 47’s goals is to “Restore parental rights in education.” By shifting control of education onto parents, parents can be reassured that what is taught at schools aligns with their personal beliefs and values if the policy goes through.

Nowadays, our current political scene sacrifices education for short-term political gain. Instead of addressing issues that schools face, policies are designed to align with political goals that only benefit certain groups of people. According to the Northwest Evaluation Association, the gap in pre and post-COVID test scores widened by 36% in reading and 18% in math. As schools recoil from the pandemic, the need for something to change the school system for the better is as urgent as ever. Policies need to focus on creating a system that places students first—something that cannot be achieved while education remains a pawn in a political game.