'He's Not Kidding'
Trump was asked by a viewer who called into the
show how he would help students who don't want to attend their local public
schools, and said he plans to "let the states run the schools" to
allow for more "school choice."
"We're gonna take the Department of Education, we're
gonna close it," said the former president, explaining that each state
would govern educational policy without federal input—a promise of the
right-wing policy agenda, Project 2025, that was co-authored by hundreds of
former Trump administration staffers.
"Fox & Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade said
the plan was concerning only because it could allow a "liberal city"
or state to decide that schools would teach that the country was "built
off the backs of slaves on stolen land, and that curriculum comes in."
"Then we don't send them money," replied Trump.
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) warned, "He's not kidding," pointing to Project 2025, which calls to reduce the role the federal government to "that of a statistics-gathering agency that disseminates information to the states."
"It's in his Project 2025 plan: Trump wants to defund
public schools," said the labor union.
The federal government provides public schools with
about 13.6% of the
funding for public K-12 education. The loss of federal funds could particularly
affect schools in low-income communities, resulting in
school closures, teacher layoffs, and fewer classroom resources.
Trump's comments touched on the "culture war"
promoted by the Republican Party in recent years regarding what they have
claimed is the teaching of "critical race theory" (CRT)
in public schools. The concept holds that race is a social construct and racism
is carried out by legal systems and institutions, through policies like
redlining and harsh criminal sentencing laws.
The focus on CRT has resulted in attacks on all "culturally relevant
teaching" that takes the experiences of people of color
into account and all teachings about the history of the U.S.—particularly about
the enslavement of Black people for hundreds of years, Jim Crow laws, the
contributions made by racial minorities, and the civil rights movement.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of
Teachers (AFT), said educators' goal is to "teach
students how to think, not what to think"—contrary to right-wing claims
that the left aims to "indoctrinate" students.
Trump, she said, is "threatening funding if they don't
teach what he wants. That's indoctrination and it's dangerous. Our kids deserve
better."
Trump is not alone among Republicans in his calls to defund
public education. As the Daily Montanan reported this
week, GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, a multimillionaire who is running to
unseat Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mt.) and is leading in
recent polls, has spoken about throwing the Department of Education "in
the trash can."
Federal funding accounts for 12% of per-student spending in
Montana, where nearly 90% of children attend public schools. The state gets $40
million alone to support students with disabilities.
"Fairly significant harm would be implemented in
Montana's public schools if we suddenly snapped our fingers and said, 'No more
federal funding of education,'" Lance Melton, head of the Montana School
Boards Association, told the Daily
Montanan.
Lauren Miller, acting communications director for the
AFL-CIO, said the former
president's comments on Friday fit "a pattern" evident in numerous
policies outlined by Trump and Project 2025.
"He'll defund public schools if they don't obey
him," said Miller. "He'll fire government
workers if they don't obey him. He'll gut the Department of Justice if they
don't obey him. He'll deny FEMA funding to
states if they don't obey him."