Trump is moving dangerously fast. His slew of executive orders, which have not stopped since the second he took office, have grown more and more devastating for the country. Coupled with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), it seems like there is no relent to Trump’s oppressive agenda.
The largest of Trump’s recent executive orders was the executive order titled “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities.” This order is aimed at dismantling the Department of Education. Before Trump, the Department of Education (DOE) identified four key functions for the organization:
- Establishing policies on federal financial aid for education and distributing, as well as monitoring those funds.
- Collecting data on America’s schools and disseminating research.
- Focusing national attention on key issues in education and making recommendations for education reform.
- Prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education.
To be clear: Trump cannot legally dissolve the DOE. Departments that fall under the Executive Branch can only be abolished by congress. However, Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi have recently made dangerously sweeping and false claims, questioning the constitutionality of judges blocking executive orders, laying the groundwork for a constitutional crisis.
Completely abolishing the DOE could put federal student aid in jeopardy. While Trump has stated that this specific policy will continue under a different branch of government, we shouldn’t dismiss the idea that at any moment Trump could decide federal student aid is “government bloat” that needs to be abloished. If this were to happen, it would prevent hundreds of thousands of people from attaining higher education and would make higher education a commodity for the wealthy, rather than a right for all.
For elementary-to-high school students, the abolishment of the DOE would mean the end of federal funding for schools, the end of anti-discrimination policies, and the end of federally mandated special education protections. While most funding of US schools does come from states and local municipalities, federal funding is instrumental in aiding particulalrly lower-income school districts.
By abolishing the DOE, Trump says he wants to put the issue of education into states’ hands, but he really is going to issue in a new era of inequality within schools.
Again, to be clear: Trump cannot legally do this. The DOE is protected, for the time being, by congress, which as we know is Republican controlled. I hope that even the most ardent Republicans don’t fall for Trump’s schemes through the language of states’ rights. States already control their statewide curriculums, teaching certifications and standards, and local governments have control over establishing specific curriculum for schools in their area.
Trump knows what he is doing. He knows that if he frames this issue as an issue of states’ rights, he will win over plenty of Americans. However, the DOE still states that, “education is primarily a State and local responsibility in the United States,” even after Trump’s takeover of the government.
I believe he has more vile intentions by abolishing the DOE. He wants the public to be uninformed about his policies. He is actively attacking news organizations. He is actively attacking colleges. Most atrociously, he is creating authoritarian, government-run news networks. This is the rulebook of fascism. In 2003, Dr. Lawrence Britt identified 14 characteristics of fascism, and being uneducated is fundamental to the creation of a fascist society
Hitler used education to disseminate Nazi ideology throughout Germany within his first 53 days in power. As of publication, Trump has been in power for 66 days. While he is not moving as fast as Hitler, he is using familiar methods
However, I would like to end on a more positive note. People are standing up to Trump throughout the country. There have been protests in all 50 state capitals and coordinated boycotts against companies folding to Trump’s anti-DEI agenda. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Bernie Sanders and VP Candidate/Minnesota Governor Tim Walz have been touring the country to fight Trump’s agenda. Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders have been touring a redesigned Democratic party agenda amidst party-wide division. Walz has been hosing town halls in Republican-controlled districts where Republican congresspeople have been afraid to. Less recently, Representative Al Green stood up to Trump’s face at his joint-address of congress. If you want to fight fascism, stand up for freedom, democracy, the Constitution, and your beliefs.
