I read the education chapter of Project 2025
So you don't have to
I read the education chapter of Project 2025, the Trump admin’s plan for the next four years. It’s mostly written and edited by people connected to the Heritage Foundation, and several authors served on Trump’s previous administration. It was written by 36 writers, 8 of which are women, and 2 of which were Black and not White.
There are many other bad things in the education chapter of Project 2025, but the most alarming to me are the defunding of public education and making it harder to go to college:
Defunding public schools in general. The feds can’t fully do this alone because most funding from public schools comes from local and state governments, but the elimination or redirection of federal funding which accounts for about 10% of school budgets is a huge problem because public schools are largely already underfunded. But in DC, where feds can intrude on local control, defunding public schools is even a greater threat.
The removal of any restrictions on federal funds meant for specific purposes, like students with disabilities. It will be up to each state, but ultimately, this could mean that states repurpose those funds for any purpose.
The elimination of federal funds for Title 1 (low-income) schools. The feds initiated this funding because schools are funded by local property taxes and state funding, and many states were not sending a fair share of resources to low-income schools.
The privatization of federal student loans for college along with increasing the interest rates and eliminating loan forgiveness.
An attack on public education is an attack on American ideals because education has been understood to be the mechanism through which many achieve equal opportunity and realize the American dream. Of course, America has not fully lived up to this ideal. Most places, including DC, do not provide equitable opportunities to learn for all children, and public education has not been funded at the levels needed. But as of today, every child has the right to receive a free education. This right is enshrined in state constitutions, but this too could change. But even if the right to a free public education remains, Project 2025 seeks to redirect federal funding away from public schools and into the pockets of those with the most resources to access private education, thus increasing the inequity in an already inequitable system.
Education attainment is associated with a host of positive outcomes, including positive health outcomes for families and children, happiness, and economic benefits, while lower levels of educational attainment are associated with a host of negative outcomes, like lower earnings, greater dependency on social programs, increased criminal activity, and incarceration. Education is also intertwined with good governance as it teaches civic engagement and how the government works.
For all these reasons, it’s no coincidence that public education is a target of Project 2025. When the goal is power and control, education is a threat. Make no mistake, this is a plan to keep people in their place by removing educational opportunities while redirecting more resources to the wealthy.
I fear that we’re moving further towards a classist system where a quality education and postsecondary education will only be available to the wealthy. It will be up to local and state governments, foundations, non-profits, communities, and individuals to stand in the gap.
A full outline and cliff notes of the education chapter of Project 2025 below.
Other striking points:
Loss of federal funding for research. Project 2025 calls for the elimination of all competitive grant programs, which fund research. The loss of research is a loss of a feedback loop about what’s working or not, what’s unfair, and how we can improve and invest resources more efficiently in the future.
The cognitive dissonance of wanting to eliminate free meals for all children in a school because some don’t need free meals while also wanting to eliminate income restrictions for vouchers for private schools. It’s like being upset over a non-low-income student receiving a $5 daily lunch when being okay with a non-low-income student receiving thousands of dollars for private school that low-income students could never afford.
Many of the initiatives of the Department of Education were created in response to inequities in educational opportunities for students of color, and there is not a single mention of student “race” outside of a) critical race theory is forbidden, and b) we shouldn’t be concerned about differences in the rates of school discipline or referrals to special education for students of different races. This means the erosion of protections for students of color and increased inequity in educational opportunities.
The repurposing of terms like “diversity”, which have historically applied to people of color, to describe American exceptionalism, which largely ignores America’s treatment of Native Americans, Black people, and other people of color. It uses terms that have historically applied to people of color and redefines them to erase people of color.[1] That is what white supremacy does.
The focus on increasing rights for people accused of sexual misconduct while doing nothing for victims of sexual misconduct. This is a weird point to make unless you hate women in which case it makes perfect sense.
The contempt for accreditation agencies for postsecondary institutions, including the American Bar Association, to the point of calling them a “cartel”. The goal is to basically get rid of accreditation, which seems problematic for obvious reasons. I don’t have enough background to know the details, but Project 2025 cites institutions balking at having to create diversity, equity, and inclusion policies as part of accreditation.
Chapter 11: Department of Education
MISSION
Department of Education should be eliminated.
Families should be able to direct public funding for education to private schools, faith-based institutions, career schools, military academies, and other learning programs and expose schools to greater market forces (so gutting public schools).
Federal funding to states should be block-granted without strings (i.e., removing restrictions on how $ is spent).
Student loans and grants should be restored to private sector (making it harder for the low and middle class to attend college).
Federal postsecondary investments should bolster economic growth and embrace intellectual diversity, like American exceptionalism
Federal postsecondary policy should focus more on workforce skills for Americans with no interest in pursuing an academic degree.
OVERVIEW
Explains why federal government got involved in the first place – as part of Civil Rights b/c Black students were being mistreated and to provide additional funding for low-income children and postsecondary students (which will be undone under this plan).
Congress has continued to legislate to deal with educational problems, like neglect of students with disabilities.
Matters used to be managed by multiple agencies but NEA pressured Carter to consolidate the education issues into one agency. B/c it’s under one agency, it’s easier for special interest groups like NEA and AFT to lobby for more federal resources in education, and money comes with red tape.
The plan is to redistribute the various approved programs across the government, eliminate programs they don’t like, and make state and district funding flexible block grants (which removes restrictions on how funds must be used).
CORE PRINCIPLES
Advance education freedom – empower families to select schools, which can mean directing public funding to private schools (and defunding public schools).
Provide education choice (money for private schools) for “federal” children and move responsibility for military and DC families to other agencies.
Restore state and local control over education funding – states should have full control over federal funds for any educational purpose under state law (so remove federal accountability of federal funds which exists b/c states weren’t treating all students justly in the first place).
Treat taxpayers like investors in federal student aid – taxpayers should get returns on investment for postsecondary loans, borrows must repay.
Protect federal student loan portfolio from predatory politicians – borrowers must repay.
Safeguarding civil rights – Civil rights should be based on proper understanding of those laws, rejecting gender ideology and critical race theory (CRT) (no mention of race at all except that CRT is forbidden).
Stop executive overreach – policy should come from Congress not Executive Orders or agency regulations and guidance (except for all of the executive orders, regulations, and guidance articulated in this chapter and in Project 2025 in general), and national emergency declarations should expire within 60 days.
NEEDED REFORMS
Federal intervention has failed to promote student achievement, the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) reading has remained stagnant for past 30 years and math achievement has declined (they arbitrarily picked 30 years b/c it suited their narrative but long-term NAEP trends show improvement, see below).
The Department has created “shadow” departments of education in states across the country to comply with federal mandates and programs.
Right-wing reports find that states spend too much time to complete federal paperwork and non-teaching staff has doubled relative to growth in student enrollment. Federal government has contributed to bloat in states and districts.
PROGRAM AND OFFICE PRIORITIZATION WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE)
Reduce number of programs managed by OESE and transfer remaining programs to other federal agencies.
Transfer Title 1 ($ for schools serving low-income kids), Part A, to Health and Human Services (HHS). It will be administered as a no-strings-attached formula block grant (i.e., it doesn’t have to be spent on low-income kids).
Restore revenue responsibility for Title 1 funding to the states over 10-year period (eliminate federal funding for Title 1).
Eliminate Impact Aid, which is funding for reductions in property tax revenue due to federal property or tribal lands. Move student-driven Impact Aid to Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) or Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education.
Transfer all Indian education programs to Bureau of Indian Education.
Expand DC Opportunity Scholarship program and move to Health and Human Services (HHS).
All other OESE programs should be eliminated (major loss of federal funding for education research).
Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education
Transfer programs to Department of Labor except move tribal related to Bureau of Indian Education.
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)
Most IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) funding converted to no-strings formula block grant targeted at students with disabilities and distributed to local education agencies by Health and Human Services ($ doesn’t have to be spent on students with disabilities).
Transfer the Vocational Rehabilitation Grants for Native American students to Bureau of Indian Education.
Phase out earmarks for a variety of special institutions.
Move efforts to enforce laws against discrimination of individuals with disabilities to the Department of Justice and Office of Civil Rights.
Office for Postsecondary Education (OPE)
Eliminate or move OPE programs to Department of Labor.
Funding to institutions should be block-granted and narrowed to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and tribally controlled colleges (major loss of federal funding for research).
Move programs relevant to national security interests to Department of State.
Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
Move National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau.
Either move other IES research centers to the National Science Foundation (NSF) or leave IES as an independent agency but make major governance and management changes.
Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA)
Completely reverse student loan federalization of 2010 and move FSA to new government corporation with professional governance and management appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. It would be funded by Congress and operated by professional managers. Federal loans would be assigned directly to the Treasury Department, who would manage collections and defaults. The new federal student loan authority would manage the loan portfolio, handle borrower relations, administer loan applications and disbursements, monitor institutional participation and accountability issues, and issue regulations.
Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
Move to Department of Justice. Enforcement of civil rights protections only through litigation (loss of civil rights education data among other things).
Other management, financial, legal, and operations staff
Can join new or existing agencies, but only if their position is determined to be in need first.
Changes to laws governing the Department of Education
Congress must pass the Liquidating Authority Act to first abolish the Department of Education.
Changes to regulations issued by the Department of Education
Thoroughly review all regulations under previous administration.
Rescind charter school grant program priorities issued in 2022.
Remove nonbinary sex category in civil rights data collection and reverse guidance to stop collecting data on the number of male or female athletes.
Reverse loan forgiveness under student assistance general provisions, federal Perkins loan program, and Ford federal direct loan program final regulations.
Rescind dear colleague letter GEN 22-11 and GEN 22-10 and accreditation letters to give universities more flexibility on accreditation and support Florida’s SB 7044.
Prohibit the Department from enforcing final regulations under Title IX under previous administration, rescind the regulations, restore the Title IX regulations as under the previous Trump administration, and define sex to mean only biological sex at birth.
Begin a full review of all Title IX investigations where sex was not defined as biological sex at birth drop all ongoing investigations, and give districts notice that they can drop policy changes due to pressure from previous administration.
Prepare a report of the Office of Civil Rights “overreach” on Title IX issues that the new Secretary of Education can “publicize”.
Work with Congress to amend Title IX to give due process to those accused of sexual misconduct (investing more in those accused of sexual misconduct rather than the victims).
Make clear that FERPA allows parents full access to their children’s educational records, and any practice against this violates federal law.
Work with Congress to define sex as only biological sex at birth.
Work with Congress to strengthen protections for faith-based programs and activities.
Target regulations about assistance to states for education for children with disabilities and preschool grants for children with disabilities (Equity in IDEA).
Target regulatory changes to school meals program under Department of Agriculture and changes to income-driven student loan program.
Title VI – School discipline and disparate impact
Federal overreach has prioritized “racial purity in school discipline indicators”. The 2014 Dear Colleague letter under the Obama Administration indicated that schools were at risk of losing federal funding if there was disparate impact in school discipline by race. The Office of Civil Rights leveraged federal civil rights investigations as policy enforcement tools, which would only end if districts adopted lenient policies like restorative justice. Trump rescinded this guidance.
Direct the Department of Education (which won’t exist) to conduct a comprehensive review of all Title VI cases to ascertain what extent include allegations of disparate impact. Office of Civil Rights should also review all resolution agreements with school districts about this policy.
Direct the Department of Education (which won’t exist) and Department of Justice to issue guidance stating that agencies will no longer consider disparate impact. Rescind Biden Administration guidance on this topic. Work with the Attorney General on a regulation that would clarify that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act does not include disparate impact.
Assistance to states for the education of children with disabilities: Preschool grants for children with disabilities (Equity in IDEA)
In 2017 the department issued regulations under Part B of IDEA that require states to consider race and ethnicity in the identification, placement, and discipline of students with disabilities. This should be rescinded.
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) should prepare a digest of best research on this subject and share it with state leaders. “Every effort should be made to dissuade states from continuing to operate on the assumption that overrepresentation requires state intervention”.
Provide school meals to children in need/Do not use federal meals to support radical ideology
Revamp National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) because it provides free meals to both low-income and non-low-income students. (The Department of Agriculture chapter discusses rejecting universal free meals and even in schools serving majority low-income students, only providing free meals on an individual student basis, which identifies and shames the students seeking free meals.)
The USDA is threatening to withhold money for meals from schools that do not replace “sex” with “sexual orientation and gender identity” under Title IX. Prohibit the USDA or any other federal agency from withholding services from federal or state agencies including K-12 schools that don’t replace sex with sexual orientation and gender identify under Title IX.
Phase out existing income-driven repayment plans
Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans are better than fixed payment plans but don’t require a large enough repayment from students. Phase out all existing IDR plans and implement a new IDR plan. The new plan should have an income exemption equal to the poverty line and requirement payments of 10% of income above the exemption. If new legislation is possible, there should be no loan forgiveness, but if not, existing law forgives any remaining balance after 25 years.
Biden’s proposed policy was “extremely generous to borrowers” by lowering the percentage of income owed from 10-25% to 5% and lowering the number of years of payment requirement from 20-25 years to 10 years, and increasing the income exemption to 150-225% of the poverty line (so making college more accessible for all).
OTHER STRUCTURAL REFORMS THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION REQUIRES
Reform federal education data collection
Make NAEP student data by family structure available to the public, including as part of data explorer tool.
Data collection efforts should be moved under the Census Bureau.
Improve data collection in higher education but now under Department of Labor. Collect data on regional differences in earnings and cost of living and develop a reliable methodology to determine the value add of education programs beyond just their admissions selectivity. The Department of Education relies on graduation rates and average earnings as proxies for educational quality, but these outcomes are related to student socioeconomic background, sex, family status, and other factors. Higher education outcomes data should be “risk adjusted” to isolate impact of educational quality on outcomes (I actually agree with this point, but they’re not consistent in wanting evaluation).
Reform the negotiated rulemaking process at the Department of Education
(which will no longer exist)
The Department of Education is required to engage in negotiated rulemaking prior to issuing new regulations. This means engaging a committee of stakeholders early in drafting of regulations and the stakeholders reaching consensus. This process is hard and time consuming. Instead, Congress should amend the Higher Education Act (HEA) to eliminate the negotiated rulemaking requirement. At a minimum, Congress should allow the Department to hold public hearings rather than host the negotiated rulemaking sessions.
Reform the Office of Federal Student Aid
End prior Administration’s “abuse” of loan payment pauses and Higher Education Act (HEA) loan forgiveness programs, including borrower defense to repayment, closed school discharge, and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
New Administration should take immediate steps to commence rulemaking process to rescind or substantially modify the prior Administration’s HEA regulations.
Consider returning to a system in which private lenders, backed by government guarantees, would compete to offer student loans, including subsidized loans. Pell grants keep current voucher-like status.
Switch to fair-value accounting from FCRA accounting.
Consolidate all federal loan programs into one new program that uses income-driven repayment, includes no interest rate subsidies or loan forgiveness, includes annual and aggregate limits on borrowing, and requires “skin in the game” from colleges to make them accountable for loan repayment.
Work with Congress to move federal student aid into a new government corporation with professional governance and management.
NEW POLICY PRIORITIES
Prioritize legislation that undermines teachers’ unions
[Tangent about teachers’ unions, in that they advocate for more money for schools and against choice policies, and lobbied to keep schools closed during the pandemic.] There is “robust research evidence showing positive outcomes for students from education choice policies” and “no conclusive evidence that more taxpayer spending on schools improves student outcomes” (actually, there is). And teachers’ unions promote “radical racial and gender ideologies”.
Congress should rescind the NEA’s charter.
Conduct hearings to determine how much federal money NEA has used for “radical causes” (‘radical’ not defined).
Advance legal protections for parental rights in education
Add laws to prohibit compelled speech in jurisdictions under federal control. Compelled speech means critical race theory, mandatory affinity groups, teacher training in which educators confess their privilege, or saying that systemic racism exists in America because America’s ideals are equality and colorblindness (phew).
Design legislation that prevents critical race theory from being used (so violate free speech).
Adopt proposals that no individual should receive punishment or benefits based on the color of their skin (goodbye legacy college admissions, but I bet that wasn’t the intent.
Do not require educators to discuss contemporary political issues but force them to discuss issues with which they disagree (yes, you read that right). States should post classroom materials online to provide maximum transparency to parents (many schools already do this, but it’s schools, not states, that would have the materials).
Pass a federal parents’ bill of rights that restores parental rights to “top-tier” status, like freedom of speech. Require the government to satisfy “strict scrutiny” when the government infringes parental rights. And ensure regulations include parental rights and require federal agencies to demonstrate their action meets strict scrutiny before a final rule is determined.
Work with Congress to amend FERPA and PPRA to provide parents and students over 18 with a “private right of action to seek injunctive and declaratory relief” against agencies that violate parental rights.
Protect parental rights in policy
Prioritize legislation that advances parent rights, like “Empowering Parents Act” or “Parents’ Bill of Rights Act”.
Congressional actions should be carefully reviewed to make sure they complete state Parents’ Bills of Rights.
For K-12 districts under federal jurisdiction, work with Congress to require that no public education employee or contractor use a name other than the name listed on a student’s birth certificate (or different pronoun) without the written permission of the student’s parents or guardians (so long nicknames). And no public institution may require an employee or contractor to use a pronoun that does not match student’s biological sex if it conflicts with the employee’s or contractor’s religious beliefs or moral convictions.
Advance school choice policies
Congress should expand eligibility to the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program to all students, regardless of income or background, and raise the scholarship amount closer to the funding students receive in DC Public Schools (so gut funding for public schools and give rich people money to use towards private schools because no one else can afford private schools in DC even with a voucher).
Congress should also “deregulate” the program by removing the requirement that private schools administer the state assessment (this means that the program can no longer be evaluated and found to have no effects on achievement or college enrollment b/c ignorance is bliss), and private schools get to “control” their admissions processes (meaning admittance to private schools won’t be available to most).
Provide education choice for populations under the jurisdiction of Congress
In DC, redirect portion of federal spending to “education savings accounts” which are individualized private accounts that parents can use to pay for private schools, tutors, “education therapists”, books, etc. (a portion of federal funds would not be nearly enough to cover the cost of a private education, but collectively, this reduces funding for public schools by a lot).
For schools attended by active-duty military families and funded by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), redirect portion of federal spending to “education savings accounts” (ditto).
Educators at Department of Defense schools are using “radical gender theory and critical race theory” in instruction (no evidence presented as to what they’re talking about).
For schools on tribal lands and under the purview of the Bureau of Indian Education, redirect portion of federal spending to “education savings accounts” (ditto).
Expand education choice through portability of existing federal funds
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) stipulates that children with disabilities have a “right to a free and appropriate education”. 95% of children with special needs attend public schools, and $13.5 billion goes towards funding special education.
Move IDEA oversight to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Redirect some of the IDEA money into private education savings accounts (so gutting federal funds for IDEA for the few who can afford private education when 95% of children with disabilities attend public schools likely because they aren’t served well in private schools).
Allow funds in the education savings accounts to be spent on private education and other learning expenses, like textbooks, “education therapies”, and tutors. These education savings accounts would give families approximately $1,800 per child (forget about affording private school with that, and multiply $1,800 by the number of IDEA students for how much funding would be cut from public schools).
Congress and the White House should consider a similar update for Title 1 (low-income schools). $16.3 billion goes to Title 1. Redirect portion to education savings accounts. Each family would receive $1,300 - $1,400 per child (but funding for Title 1 schools would be cut by this amount times the number of children in the schools, a huge amount).
Initially move the responsibilities for administering and overseeing Title 1 funds to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Phase out federal funding for Title 1 schools, and states should take over (so eliminate federal funds for low-income schools which exist b/c states were not equitably allocating funds in the first place).
Additional school choice options
Congress should consider legislation such as the Educational Choice for Children Act, which creates a federal scholarship tax credit for wealthy donors to contribute to nonprofit scholarship granting organizations, who could then choose who to allocate the funds to.
ADDITIONAL K-12 REFORMS
Allowing states to opt out of federal education programs
States should be able to opt out of federal programs such as the Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (APLUS) Act (this bill actually gives states more autonomy to decide how to spend federal funding, I think this is a mistake).
States should be able to opt out of dozens of federal K-12 education programs authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and instead put share of federal funding “towards any lawful education purpose under state law” (i.e., money for IDEA doesn’t have to be spent on children with disabilities, money for Title 1 doesn’t have to be spent on low-income schools).
HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM
HEA accreditation reform
The Department of Education is supposed to ensure the administrative capacity and financial responsibility of postsecondary institutions that accept Title IV (financial aid) funds and to ensure the quality of those institutions. The Department ensures quality by recognizing accreditors. The Department has standards for accrediting agencies, and the accreditors have “transformed into de facto government agents”. An “egregious example” of this is institutions being required to have diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. If institutions aren’t accredited, then students can’t use federal student aid benefits and the academic credits can’t be transferred.
Prohibit accreditation agencies from mandating that institutions adopt diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
Prohibit accreditation agencies from “intruding upon the governance of state-supported educational institutions” (what does this mean, don’t allow for any federal oversight even when federal funds are used?)
For faith-based institutions, prohibit accreditation agencies from requiring standards and criteria that undermine the religious beliefs of the institution. And prohibit from intruding on the governance of institutions controlled by a religious organization” (so no federal oversight of religious institutions, got it).
Allow states to recognize accreditation agencies for Title IV gatekeeping purposes and allow state agencies to act as accreditation agencies for institutions “throughout the United States” (so a single state could declare that any institution in the US is accredited).
Consider making accreditation voluntary such that it doesn’t matter for receiving Title IV funds, with neither the Department or states recognizing accrediting agencies (so eliminate accreditation altogether).
HEA student loans
Work with Congress to overhaul the federal student loan program.
Privatize all lending programs, including subsidized, unsubsidized, and PLUS loans. This would allow for “market signals” to influence educational borrowing. Pell grants should retain voucher-like structure.
If privatizing student loans is not feasible, switch to fair-value accounting from FCRA accounting.
Consolidate all federal loan programs into one program that uses income-driven repayment, includes no interest rate subsidies or loan forgiveness, includes annual and aggregate limits on borrowing, and includes skin in the game to hold institutions accountable (makes it much harder for low and middle class to use loans to attend college).
Eliminate Grad PLUS loans (for graduate students) and Parent PLUS loans (for parents of undergraduates). Grad PLUS loans are redundant with unsubsidized Stafford student loans. Parent PLUS loans are redundant because they are private alternatives.
Terminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which prioritizes government and public sector work over private sector employment.
Work with Congress to amend the HEA to make sure that no administration forgives student loans in the future. Substantially reduce the power of the Secretary to forgive or lower balances on Title IV student loans or modify repayment amounts or terms of student loans (WE DO NOT FORGIVE LOANS IN THIS COUNTRY, DAMMIT. Except when we do, like bankruptcy).
Propose to Congress to amend the HEA to remove the Department’s ability to forgive loans based on borrower defense to repayment, and instead discharge loans only when there is “clear and convincing evidence” that institution engaged in fraud.
Congress should cap the indirect cost rate paid to institutions so that it does not exceed the lowest rate an institution accepts from a private organization.
NEW REGULATIONS
Attacking the accreditation cartel
The Secretary of Education (who won’t exist) should refuse to recognize accreditors that “abuse their power” (creating serious possibilities for political retribution).
New accreditors should be encouraged to start up.
Confronting the Chinese communist party’s influence on higher education
Enforce Section 117 of the HEA, which directs colleges and universities to report gifts from, and contracts with, sources outside the US worth $250,000 or more, and investigate postsecondary institutions that fail to honor Section 117 obligations and make referrals to DOJ.
Work with Congress to amend the HEA to make institution’s ability to receive federal financial assistance, particularly Title IV and VI, dependent on the institution complying with the foreign source reporting requirements.
Allowing competency-based education to flourish
Competency-based education, which is learning outside the regular classroom, can participate in federal financial aid programs, but one regulation they don’t like is “regular and substantive interaction between faculty and students”. New regulations should clarify the definition and requirement of regular and substantive interaction for competency-based education and online programs.
Reforming “area studies” funding
Stop funding “areas studies” (“interdisciplinary field of research and scholarship pertaining to a particular geographic, national, or cultural region”) programs at universities because they sometimes run counter to American interests (this is something a communist country would say).
New regulation to require Secretary of Education (who won’t exist) to allocate at least 40% of funding to international business programs that teach about free markets and economics (and other topics approved by the dictator).
NEW EXECUTIVE ORDERS THAT THE PRESIDENT SHOULD ISSUE
*Note that the introduction calls for no more executive orders.
Reinstate executive orders from 2019 that prohibited federal agencies from treating guidance documents as binding and from applying standards of conduct through guidance documents.
Require the Office of Civil Rights’ Case Processing Manual to go through the Administration Procedures Act notice and comment process.
Require grant applications (SF-424 series) to contain assurances that the applicant will uphold the First Amendment in funded programs (I have no idea what this even means from a grantee standpoint).
Minimize bachelor’s degree requirements by stating that a college degree should not be required for any federal job unless the requirements of the job specifically demand it (I agree with this).
Eliminate the “list of shame” which is a list on a website of educational institutions that claim a religious exemption with the Office for Civil Rights from Title IX (if they don’t think they’re doing anything wrong, why do they want to hide this information?).
NEW AGENCY POLICIES THAT DON’T REQUIRE NEW LEGISLATION OR REGULATIONS TO ENACT
Transparency of FERPA and PPRA complaints
Department of Education (which won’t exist) should be transparent about complaints filed on behalf of families regarding the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA).
Develop a portal and resources for parents on their rights under FERPA and PPRA which should also include an explanation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and procedures to demonstrate that parents have right to access school health records.
DC Opportunity Scholarship program (again)
Congress has required that DC private schools accepting federal vouchers must be accredited, among other things. The President should expand the list of allowable accreditors so any private school can be accredited.
Transparency around program performance and DEI influence
Require an accounting of how federal programs/grants “spread” DEI, CRT, or gender ideology.
Review outcomes for GEAR UP and the 21st Century grant programs.
Reissue the 2018 school safety report with updated information.
Release a report on how to consolidate the Department and trim nonessential employees.
Release a report on the negative influence of “action civics” on student understanding of history and civics and their disposition toward the United States (the more you know…).
Update the Coleman report (omg iykyk) to show impact of family structure on student achievement (this is an attempt to shift blame to single-parent families instead of supporting them).
Require a full accounting of CARES Act education expenditures, which was emergency funding for education as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Require a report on how many dollars make their way into the classroom for every federal education grant and program (while this is not logistically feasible, I support a more logistically feasible version).
Pursue antitrust against accreditors
Pursue antitrust against college accreditors, especially the American Bar Association (ABA) (crackpot law schools needed).
NEW POLICIES/REGULATIONS THAT REQUIRE COORDINATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES AND/OR THE WHITE HOUSE
Coordinate any rulemaking with the White House, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), DOJ, and other agencies. Any regulations under civil rights laws require Attorney General approval.
Organizational issues
The Department of Education spends too much money. Transferring most of the programs to other agencies and eliminating programs would reduce costs.
Eliminate all competitive grant programs (so basically eliminate nearly all federally funded research).
Reduce spending on formula grant programs under Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by 10%.
Eliminate the PLUS loan program.
End time-based and occupation-based student loan forgiveness.
Eliminate GEAR-UP which is a program to create a pipeline from high school to college. “It is not the responsibility of the federal government to provide taxpayer dollars to create a pipeline from high school to college.” (Really? But it’s the federal gov’s responsibility to give money to wealthy families for private schools?)
Personnel
The Department of Education employees 4,400 individuals. Employees whose positions are determined to be essential would move with their programs.
[1] This framing came from Jemar Tisby, and you can follow his Substack here:
