Trump's Anti-Education Agenda
He just keeps pushing to destroy public education in America
Donald Trump and his oligarch-friendly Administration are no fans of public education.
The latest evidence? Trump’s attempts to dismantle protections for students protected under the IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
As Save Our Schools Arizona notes:
Last Friday, Trump’s Department of Education (US ED) attempted to use the government shutdown as cover to fire nearly 500 staffers, including almost every employee in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, as well as workers in the Title I unit and Office of Civil Rights.
That plan was thwarted when a federal judge stopped it - temporarily:
Thankfully, these layoffs have been temporarily paused by a federal judge, who criticized the Trump administration’s “ready, fire, aim” approach to laying off staff and emphasized that the result is “a human cost that cannot be tolerated.” Unfortunately, this is not the end of this fight. The judge is yet to issue a permanent ban on the firings, and even if she does, the Trump administration is likely to appeal the decision up the judicial chain to the Supreme Court, which gave the green light to the Trump administration’s first round of layoffs this summer.
Trump is also pushing a federal school voucher scheme - it passed as part of the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
He’s also proposing cuts to federal funding provided to local districts:
This time, it comes in the form of the President’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget - funds that would flow to states and districts in 2026-27.
Analysis by the Education Law Center indicates Tennessee schools would lose $131 million under Trump’s plan.
That’s the equivalent of nearly 3000 teachers.
Nationally, the proposed cuts total $12 billion.