Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Former President Donald Trump is unveiling a 2024 education policy plan, one focusing heavily on the culture war components that have animated conservatives.<\/p>\n
The plan, shared in advance with POLITICO, calls for cutting federal funding for any school or program that includes \u201ccritical race theory, gender ideology, or other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content onto our children.” It also calls for opening \u201ccivil rights investigations into any school district that has engaged in race-based discrimination,\u201d particularly against Asian American students, and promises to \u201ckeep men out of women\u2019s sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposals are not focused solely on social policy and school curriculum. In a video unveiling the plan, which was shared by his campaign, Trump also calls for making significant cuts to administrative personnel and the end of teacher tenure and the election of school principals.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the saying goes, personnel is policy and at the end of the day if we have pink-haired communists teaching our kids we have a major problem,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe’re at the end of the list on education and yet we spend the most, but we’re going to be tops in education no matter where you go anywhere in the world.”<\/p>\n
Though large swaths of education policy are dictated by state and local governments, Trump\u2019s proposals still represent a radical departure from long-standing approaches. Taken in full, they represent an attempt by the former president to put his own imprint on debates around the nation\u2019s school systems that have popped up across state capitals.<\/p>\n
Conservatives, for example, have pushed for restrictions on transgender athletes, even though transgender women have been allowed to compete in women\u2019s categories in the Olympics since 2003 and the NCAA since 2010.<\/p>\n
Just days ago, meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) \u2014 a potential 2024 competitor \u2014 blocked high schools in his state from teaching an Advanced Placement African American studies curriculum over what he described as the inclusion of topics like \u201cqueer theory\u201d and movements that called for \u201cabolishing prisons.\u201d<\/p>\n
The White House and education groups, including the College Board<\/a>, have pushed back aggressively on DeSantis, arguing that he has no basis or credibility to make such determinations. More broadly, school administrators and progressive activists have noted that most public school officials across the country do not teach critical race theory, even in districts where lawmakers are seeking to ban it.<\/p>\n But Trump\u2019s policy proposal underscores how primed Republicans are for these types of fights. During his time in office, the main thrust of Trump\u2019s education platform<\/a> was not so much on cultural elements as on a desire to expand school choice, including a federal tax credit<\/a> to help parents pay for private school tuition.<\/p>\n Now running for office again, Trump is calling for a certification program for teachers who \u201cembrace patriotic values\u201d and \u201cfunding preferences and favorable treatment\u201d for states and school districts that follow his calls for abolishing teacher tenure. He also calls for cutting administrative roles, and adopting a \u201cparental bill of rights.\u201d Trump said he would also remove \u201cthe radical zealots and Marxists\u201d he claims have \u201cinfiltrated\u201d the Department of Education.<\/p>\n