The United States Department of Education is undergoing a radical overhaul. President Trump says he wishes to close the department, citing a “radical liberal agenda” that focuses too much on DEI initiatives, LGBTQ issues and critical race theory as the reason for American students’ underperformance. The Senate is expected to vote soon on the confirmation of Linda McMahon, his nominee to be education secretary.
While it is true that students in America are vastly underperforming compared to our international peers, the Trump administration is once again barking up the wrong tree at what is the root cause for the issue; rather, they are worried about pushing ideology and hoarding resources. We need the Department of Education, and its potential removal and or gutting will not help students; rather it’ll make things harder for academic success.
The Department of Education does three things: It manages student loans, it protects students’ civil rights and it sends money to schools that need it most. It doesn’t set curriculum nor does it even control a school’s budget; it does exist as a guardrail for low-income students and those in special education programs.
The removal of the department will essentially make college more expensive, as federal money for students and colleges alike will be either cut significantly or outright, as well as remove protections for those students who are most vulnerable. The White House has gone a step further in saying that schools that follow Biden-era guidelines will have their federal funding rescinded.
We are seeing this take place here in Nebraska, with 16 students in the RAÍCES teacher development program, which aimed to develop teachers for impoverished communities, having been cut completely from their scholarship, which was buoyed by the multimillion-dollar federal grant. Furthermore, the University of Nebraska Omaha cut its DEI office, which helped establish scholarships and programs aimed at bringing in students from diverse and often neglected backgrounds in order to comply with federal guidelines.
This is ultimately a targeted attack that values dogma over the needs of students. Republicans’ media insistence on attacking trans youth or teaching critical race theory in schools, for example, is meant to turn the ire of the public away from their continued efforts to insulate education to the rich, white and already-educated few through the overwork of teachers and eventual gutting of public funding for education.
Oftentimes, those making these laws want a version of education that does little to challenge their own worldview. Why would it benefit you as a politician to support public education when you can take lobbying money from private and home-schooling lobbyists and ensure reelection by mobilizing an uneducated and quick-to-anger majority? An educated public learns to see across things such as race, gender and sexuality and build empathy with those who are different from oneself.
The cutting of the Department of Education signals to states that they can target teachers and students for whatever reason without repercussions, that they can cut disability and DEI programs aimed at closing the educational gap and that rather than focusing on giving teachers the support they desperately need, they can force them into teaching dogma that reinforces an “America First” worldview, ostensibly propaganda.
This is a call to action. Education is important, and in fact it’s the lifeblood of a functioning country. People paid in blood for your right to education. Do not take your privilege for granted. If anything, use your positions as students, faculty and staff to advocate to lawmakers and those with any modicum of influence to safeguard education for future generations. While we can all agree that education in America is currently underperforming, the solution to fixing it is not to buckle down in ignorance and hoard knowledge and resources for those struggling to receive a quality education.
