Trump doubles down on eliminating Education Department, vows to give ‘restitution’ to ‘victims’ of DEI

President-elect Donald Trump’s plan would have sweeping impacts on students attending HBCUs or facing discrimination in classrooms.

President-elect Donald Trump intends to fulfill his promise to eliminate the United States Department of Education, among other actions, that would have sweeping impacts on public education and American students.

Since clinching the presidency in a stunning victory against Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump announced in a video his 10 “key ideas” for what he believes will strengthen America’s education system. The agenda includes proposals like bringing prayer back in public schools and teaching students to “love their country, not to hate their country.”

At the end of his video announcement, Trump doubled down on his previous vow to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education.

The 45th and soon-to-be 47th president said that “very early” in his second administration, he would be “closing up” the department headquartered in Washington, D.C., and sending “all education and education work and needs back to the States.” 

“We want them to run the education of our children because they’ll do a much better job of it,” Trump said of the states.

He said of the federal agency, “You can’t do worse. We spend more money per pupil by three times than any other nation, and yet we’re absolutely at the bottom.”

Trump’s 10 point plan for education:

– eliminate the Dept. of Education
– cut federal funding
– promote Christian Nationalism
– attack teacher’s unions
– give public money to for-profit private schools

He warned us, and you voted for him anyway.pic.twitter.com/pMTU6rdMVj

— Melanie D’Arrigo (@DarrigoMelanie) November 10, 2024

In another video message, Trump said he would direct the Department of Justice to go after diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. 

The law enforcement agency would “pursue federal civil rights cases against schools that continue to engage in racial discrimination and schools that persist in explicit unlawful discrimination under the guise of equity.” 

The president-elect said he would tax the endowments of schools engaging in racial equity work and fine them. He proposed that a “portion of the seized funds will then be used as restitution for victims of these illegal and unjust policies, policies that hurt our country so badly.”

While Trump doesn’t explicitly say who would be considered “victims” of so-called equity discrimination, it’s safe to presume that he intends to center white families, given the slew of anti-DEI lawsuits that have gone to court claiming anti-white discrimination – including lawsuits filed by America First Legal, which was founded by Trump’s incoming deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller.

Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross warns that Trump’s plan to eliminate the Department of Education will have sweeping impacts on Black and brown communities.

“There [are] a vast amount of individuals across this country who don’t understand essentially the functions of the department, up to and including student debt relief. But also…things like the Pell Grant, which helps provide college accessibility for over 80% of the Black population,” Cross told theGrio. “Many of those students will go on to HBCUs and other institutions, and they would not stand a chance without being able to have some of the grant funding support that comes out of the Department [of Education].”

Cross explained that the Department of Education is also responsible for investigating claims of discrimination against students based on race, gender, disability, or religion. 

She noted that these include “students who have been abused, students who are calling out because they have significant trauma from events that have happened on campus,” including incidents like the recent pro-Trump racist texts sent to Black college students.

However, Trump’s vow to eliminate the Department of Education faces a procedural hurdle. Congress would have to pass legislation to do so, and Republicans don’t have enough votes in the U.S. Senate to pass such a bill without eliminating the filibuster.

“That is highly unlikely,” said Cross. However, she cautioned that Trump could essentially “kill” the department through executive actions, including dramatically defunding the agency and eliminating positions and programs.

“It will diminish [a] department so large that it cannot do its normal function,” she explained. 

Any elimination of or dramatic decrease in funding for the Education Department would ultimately burden states with funding education for millions of students. 

“When you push things over to the states and say ‘states’ rights,’ it gives us echoes of Jim Crow,” said Cross. “States have always been the battlefield, and I think that they’re going to be an even stronger battlefield right now.”

Politics

More must-reads:

• Kamala Harris: Breaking barriers as America’s first female vice president
• Without Kamala Harris in the White House, Democrats look to Hakeem Jeffries
• Democracy was a motivating factor for both Harris and Trump voters, but for very different reasons