What impact could Trump have on US education?

Education in the US is largely a "matter for the states" — with each in charge of its own school system — not the federal government. But Donald Trump's election win is causing a stir among parents, teachers and education experts. During his campaign, the president-elect promised to axe the US Department of Education and threatened to cut funding for schools exploring issues like racism or recognizing students' transgender identities. 

"The main complaint in the realm of education that Republicans had during the campaign was that schools indoctrinated young people with inappropriate material with racial, sexual and gender themes," said David Steiner, the executive director of Institute of Education at Johns Hopkins University. "The ironic thing is that they [the federal government] can't change that, because curriculums are up to the states!" he told DW.

Despite such restrictions, the Trump administration will certainly have space to make far-reaching changes to the US education system.

Could Trump really abolish the Department of Education?

Not just like that. Regardless of campaign promises, even the US president cannot simply abolish a ministry. Trump would need the support of Congress. In the Senate, a "super majority,” of at least 60 senators, would have to vote in favor of the abolition. The Republicans currently have a majority of 53 seats so they would also need votes from the Democrats, which they are unlikely to get.

Even the Republicans would probably not all vote in favor of such a move because an important task of the Department of Education is to provide schools with funds that are used to support poor children. And there are many of these, particularly in states governed by Republicans.

Funds from the Department of Education are also used to provide further training to teaching staff and to support students with special needs. Steiner believes it is unlikely that the incoming US government would dare to question such payments. "In my judgment, changes there are unlikely, because special needs occur across all income classes. Those parents are a very powerful constituency."

Brandi Urie is one of those parents. She is also an elementary school teacher in the western state of Idaho and says that abolishing the Department of Education would be a big mistake. "Should the Department of Education be dissolved along with it would go federal protection which ensures students with disabilities are able to access the education provided to any other student in the district," Urie told DW.

'Any child who isn't white, straight and Christian is going to be left out in the cold'

The US Department of Education will probably remain but analysts expect the Trump administration to make other changes to the education sector. Currently, one of the Department of Education's tasks is to take action against schools or universities that discriminate against students on the basis of their origins, religion, sexuality or gender identity. "What the conservative majority in Congress could do is make changes to the language on what constitutes discrimination, for example in sports," said Steiner.

A favorite talking point of conservative politicians is that they want to exclude transgender students from girls' and women's teams on the grounds that men shouldn't play on women's teams. Trump's administration could legalize this argument. If a student's family were to sue, Steiner said, a case could potentially go all the way to the Supreme Court, which is now comprised predominantly of conservative judges who would most likely follow Trump's logic.

A conservative administration might not see it as being discriminatory to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms and require students to participate in Christian religious education classes as part of "a curriculum that embraces Christian values," Steiner suggested.

This week, officials in Texas backed a public school curriculum that would incorporate lessons from the Bible into subjects such as English. Schools that opted to adopt the curriculum would receive more funding.

"I am definitely concerned that we elected someone to the highest office who has the intention to influence curriculums," Karen Svoboda, the director and one of the founders of Defense of Democracy, a progressive parents' organization in the US, told DW. " Any child who isn't white, straight and Christian is going to be left out in the cold."

This article was translated from German.