By Cody Yarbrough, Contributing Writer
“Federal education policy should be limited and, ultimately, the federal Department of Education should be eliminated.” These are the very first words in chapter 19 of Project 2025.
Published in April of 2023, Project 2025 is a 920-page plan put together by the Heritage Foundation that details exactly how they can “reclaim our country” during the next c conservative presidency. The document is filled with ideas on how to destroy the new “woke culture” by abolishing diversity programs, stripping women of their reproduction rights, ending government assistance for those in need, promoting a singular White-nationalist interpretation of Christianity, and so much more. Yet, out of all the grim details that put together the dystopian future described in Project 2025, the one that is most concerning is their plan for our children. A plan that President-elect Donald Trump has already announced he intends to proceed with during his first days in office.
Since the beginning of his 2024 campaign, he’s proudly proclaimed that he’ll do away with the department if reelected. Of course, politicians will say anything and everything to gain support and votes, and at the time, this rhetoric seemed to be nothing more than another one out of hundreds of half-hearted promises made during the campaign trail. However, these promises hold a different kind of weight now that he has nothing to gain by making them and will soon have the power to begin bringing them to realization.
To be clear, the idea of dismantling the Department of Education isn’t new. Republicans have been calling to dissolve the DOE since its inception. Many claim that it’s a waste of tax dollars and that those resources would be better used supporting parents’ right to “school choice.” That idea doesn’t sound too bad until you learn that the term “school choice” is code for diverting federal dollars from public schools into private and charter schools. The original point of the DOE was to collect data from around the country and distribute federal resources accordingly. As you might imagine, private and charter schools don’t often meet the same level of need as public schools have, and many of those with children in these higher-end schools would like to see their schools get better regardless of whether that means bad schools become worse.
Over the last 40+ years, conservatives have worked hard to degrade the capabilities of the DOE, yet the department still stands as an important part of closing the difference between the education of disenfranchised children and that of their well-off counterparts. Not only that, but it also funds programs for physically and mentally disabled students and oversees civil rights observed in classrooms throughout the country.
Black history in schools is also in the conservatives’ crosshairs. After undoing the DOE Project 2025, plans to do away with “woke” and “DEI” narratives in the classroom and replace them with pro-American ideologies. Trump has echoed this sentiment by stating in a recent video, “We will teach students to love their country, not to hate their country like they’re taught right now.” It can only be guessed at what exactly counts as woke these days, but in states like Florida, where conservatives are in complete control, schools must teach that the 250-year-long institution of American slavery benefited enslaved people in some ways. If Republican lawmakers believe that it’s “woke” to teach kids that slavery was horrible through and through, then it’s no wonder why they want as few government agencies as possible regulating their schools.
“While states and local school districts are largely responsible for public education in the country, the U.S. Department of Education has an important role.” Michigan Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice told us in a statement. “It distributes federal education dollars, provides guidance associated with these funds and on best education practices, and advocates for and supports public education and all groups of children. The president-elect’s proposal to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education is an unserious idea that fails to recognize the U.S. Department of Education’s role. One doesn’t have to agree with every action of the department to recognize the department’s value.”
Despite the president-elect’s full intentions to destroy the Department of Education and a large group of conservative voices cheering him on to do it, Trump doesn’t actually have the direct power to dissolve the DOE himself. Though its creation was spearheaded by President Carter, it was only by an act of Congress that the DOE was brought to life. By the same token, only an act of Congress can kill it. Congress, however, will be controlled by the Republicans when he arrives in January. It would take complete democrat solidarity and a dedicated group of conservative defectors to save the DOE once the motion is introduced. And considering Trump is at the height of his political influence, the chances of things not going his way are slim.
Still, there are some in Southeast Michigan’s school system who believe that it’s too early to call the Department of Education dead just yet. When asked for an interview, DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti told us, “At this point, it would be premature to have an interview without knowing what will happen exactly. Please circle back if and when something occurs.” It’s unclear what Vitti sees in the future that would prevent him from planning and speaking on the situation at this moment. But what is clear is that the school district he’s in charge of stands to lose more than most if this action passes. Federal COVID relief funds have made up nearly half of DPSCD’s funding since 2020. Much of said funds went to non-covid-related expenses like school supplies, learning programs, and staff salaries. Now, with those funds drying up 4 years later, Vitti’s district has seen layoffs and other budget cuts to stay afloat.
Supporters of Trump and Project 2025 promise that federal support for public schools won’t completely dry up, though. They plan to leave grants and funding under the umbrella of smaller departments that will hand distribute them without such an emphasis on poverty level and ethnic makeup. Of course, if you’ve read through the document of Project 2025, you’d already know that they’d never completely leave public school without some federal help. That would ruin part of their plan to force children to take the military exam test.
Also clearly outlined in Project 2025, this: “Improve military recruiters’ access to secondary schools and require completion of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Department of Defense (ASVAB)—the military entrance examination—by all students in schools that receive federal funding…”
No, you did not misread that. After making it harder than it already is for public schools to teach at-risk youths, conservatives want to force those same children into the beginning stages of joining the military. Instead of funding programs to help educate struggling children, they’d rather fund a new school-to-frontline pipeline. Meanwhile, the few with better education receive more options in life. And those in private schools with no federal funding don’t even have to be tested at all. If this sounds malicious and sinister to you, that’s because it is.
It’s no secret that the Detroit Public Schools Community District has been struggling for generations, especially in a post-covid world. The idea of eradicating the biggest source of federal help for the potential of slightly lower taxes or better schools somewhere else is every bit of the word “asinine.” Most Detroiters will not get the opportunity of “school choice,” whether it be because of financial status, the performance of their children, or simply because the school of their choice has no more room. As hard as it may be for some to believe, our school system can get far worse if stripped of its proper funding.
Trump and his co-conspirators aren’t getting rid of the Department of Education to give parents choice or cut taxes. They’re getting rid of it because the Department of Education stands in their way of manipulating America’s schools on a state level. Project 2025’s plan for poor Black and brown kids’ education echoes Jim Crow-era policies and Nazi-like indoctrination. And Trump is all too happy to go along with any plan that keeps people loyal to him and adds to his power. People like them will always hide their true intentions behind catchy phases like “woke” or “school choice,” but if you look a little deeper into what they’re saying, you’ll quickly learn that they’re not talking to you when they talk about “reclaiming our country.”
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