Educators prepare for how Trump could reshape school policy

ATLANTA — Many educators and analysts expect Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January will significantly change how schools and colleges operate and are funded.

Here’s a look at how Trump could reshape education in five areas.

Abolishing the U.S. Department of Education

The potential change that has sparked the most conversation is Trump’s plan to abolish the U.S. Department of Education.

“I want to close up the Department of Education, move education back to the states,” Trump said during a live discussion on Elon Musk’s X platform in August.

The federal government is sending $2 billion to Georgia’s K-12 schools this year, which amounts to 8% to 10% of school budgets; that doesn’t include federal aid for student loans and other higher education funding.

To get his ’s idea through Congress, Trump would need the support of the Senate, a divided 100-member body where it takes 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. The next Congress will have at least 47 Senate Democrats, including Georgia’s Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock.

Campus speech, parent’s rights and DEI issues

Trump would cut funding for any school espousing critical race theory, “radical gender ideology” and “inappropriate” racial, sexual or political content. Georgia has laws that address these topics, the most prominent being one that prohibits espousing what state lawmakers labeled “divisive concepts.”

Trump’s campaign website says he will veto “the sinister effort to weaponize civics education, keep men out of women’s sports, and create a credentialing body to certify teachers who embrace patriotic values.” He’s also proposed implementing the direct election of school principals by parents. Principals typically are nominated by the school district and approved by its school board.

School funding and vouchers

Trump’s campaign website calls for rewarding states and school districts that abolish teacher tenure and adopt merit pay.

Trump has said he supports “universal school choice” for parents to send their children to the public, private or religious school that best suits their needs, citing Ohio and West Virginia as examples of states “leading the American school choice revolution.” Those states have made available taxpayer-funded vouchers, or scholarships, that can follow a child regardless of income to any public or private school.

Earlier this year, Georgia lawmakers passed a new voucher program that will give $6,500 a year to parents who pull their child out of a low-performing public school, then educate them at home or at a private school. The program begins in Fall 2025.

Support for HBCUs

Trump frequently touted his support for historically Black college and universities during his first stint in the White House. Some HBCU leaders countered that Trump’s talk about what he did for the schools was exaggerated. Nonetheless, Trump said on the campaign trail he will support HBCUs if he won the election.

HBCU leaders have pushed for more funding for research and better campus facilities as well as ways to ease the financial burden on students since a larger percentage of HBCU students come from lower-income households. There are 10 HBCUs in Georgia.

Project 2025

Trump said during the campaign he had no involvement in nor endorsed a 900-page document called Project 2025, which offers what some say is a detailed road map for his second term. Project 2025, prepared by conservative think tanks and members of Trump’s first administration, would give states more authority to manage federal dollars in many areas, including for special education and students in poverty.

Critics say the recommendations would allow federal funding to flow to private schools. The National Education Association says Project 2025 would “deny our most vulnerable students the resource they need to succeed.”