The Possible Future

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The new elect President of the United States 2024 election, Donald Trump has plans for the Department of Education which will be more negative than positive. The administrations emphasized reducing the federal government's roles in education, promoting school choice, and pull back on some of the policies President Obama implemented throughout his terms (Lobosco, 2024). Some of Trumps administration goals for the department of education are:

Expansion of school choice/decision
Reduction of Federal Oversight
Changes to Student loan policies
Impact on Civil Rights in Education

Overall, these changes reflect more a of shift in education toward a divided and unregulated system which has caused much debate over equity, access, and federal responsibility in ensuring consistent educational opportunities for all students. Below is some of the debates related to each bullet point.

Expansion of School Choice/Decision

The administration's emphasis on charter schools and voucher programs aimed to provide parents with alternatives to traditional public schools (Lobosco, 2024). It has been argued this would foster competition and improve educational outcomes, while increasing inequality for access to quality education.

Reduction of Federal Oversight

By delegating more authority to state and local governments the Trump administration reduced the federal role in primary and secondary education policies. This includes revising guidance on standardized testing and diminishing accountability for Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (Lobosco, 2024). This proposal has been accepted by many for the increasing local control but has raised concerns about nationwide educational standards.

Changes to Student Loan Policies

The administration has focused on limiting student loan forgiveness programs and reconstructing repayment plans. This has included proposals to simplify repayment options but also cut back on Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) eligibility, a program that forgives the remaining balance on federal student loans after you have made 120 qualifying payments while working full-time for a qualifying employer (Lobosco, 2024). This could then potentially affect graduates in public service careers.

Impact on Civil Rights in Education

Some of the pull back on the policies implemented during Obamas administration are policies regarding transgender student's rights and campus sexual misconduct. For instance, the administration has issued new Title IX guidelines which could potentially discourage survivors of sexual assault from reporting the incidents. Civil rights advocates have also raised concerns about reduced protections for marginalized students (Lobosco, 2024).

But What Does the Department of Education Do?

According to Michelle Richard the Department of Education became a cabinet-level, high ranking executive branch in the year 1979 and has consistently held this position ever since. A common miss conception that is believed out the department is that they have the direct responsibility of serving students, however they do not authorize students, schools, or higher education since education is a state and local function. Instead the departments main mission is to improve academic outcomes and ensure access to a high-quality education for all students across the country. The ways in which this mission is ensured is through taking lead by having influence within the White House, Congress, and States to convince them to change policies; administrative programs such as Federal Student Loan; holding states accountable for meeting expectations; data & research which provides teacher and districts with evidence to show what ways of teaching and programs such as Head Start actually work, and the actual data to back it up. Lastly, and most importantly the Department of Education is in charge of continuously updating and regulating the NAEP (National Report Card) which is the test responsible for keeping track of educational progress and gives us the ability to 'track' or compare education across the country to give states the high status such as having the best third grade readers. Overall, the Department of Education plays a huge role into what policies are implemented within each state, while also holding states accountable for what is necessary for a equal and high equality education.

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