Project 2025, a political blueprint assembled by conservatives for the next Republican president, could significantly affect the Department of Education and students nationwide if implemented.
While President Trump has denied his ties to it, some think there is far too much overlap between Project 2025’s authors and past or current members of Trump’s cabinet to be entirely coincidental. As Trump continues to fill his cabinet with authors and architects of the project, he is solidifying his ties with right-wing leaders, despite rejecting the project during his campaign.
“I think it’s more than 50% likely that it will be implemented,” theorizes Summit teacher Elia Overcash. “The [president] has the Senate and the House, so passing the various pieces of it will be relatively easy,”
But what would the ideas of this 922-page document mean for high schoolers in Oregon?
“I think [Project 2025] would be devastating to public schools,” speculates Overcash. “My greatest concern is for serving all students… I definitely fear what would happen if this passed.”
A focal point of the project is critical race theory (CRT). This legal concept is mostly taught in high level ethics classes for law students in grad school but has become a talking point in K-12 education. For those unfamiliar, CRT states that race is something created by society, not biology, and that there is institutional racism in the government and legal system.
“Many Republicans view the concepts underlying critical race theory as an effort to rewrite American history and convince white people that they are inherently racist and should feel guilty because of their advantages,” explains Bryan Anderson, an Associated Press journalist, in his article. In contrast, the left views it as essential to be aware of different perspectives while teaching history.
In a discussion on the podcast Harvard EdCast, education and curriculum professor Gloria Laden-Billings explains that critical race theory has become a catch-all term used by the right-wing for anything to do with the civil rights movement or modern Black history. She says that true critical race theory is more appropriate to be taught in grad schools than K-12, it is important to continue teaching all perspectives of history.
Another hot-button topic is gender identity. This part of the plan specifically affects students who aren’t cisgendered. The Project proposes several new country-wide policies under the “Parental Rights” umbrella that regulate students and gender identity. Teachers would be legally required to “out” students to their parents. Students wouldn’t be allowed to go by any pronouns other than those that match their biology or ask to go by a different name without a parent’s written consent.
And if schools don’t obey these regulations? Well, then all of their funding for school lunches is cut. There are 412 students at Summit alone who are eligible for free or reduced lunch, and 16,595 students in our district, and financing for those meals comes from state and federal funds. A study by the Food Research & Action Center found that school meals play a critical role in student health, well-being, and academic success. A threat that puts so many students at risk may force unwilling schools to comply.
Cutting support for those who need it is nothing more than a blip in the overall trend of Project 2025. Many of the programs that have been created to support families and students in need will either be drastically cut or must be reinstated at the State level.
“The department [of education] is a convenient one-stop shop for the woke education cartel,” writes Lindsey Burke, one of Mandate for Leadership, a prominent document of the conservative effort, and Project 2025’s authors. Project 2025 contains plans to transfer much of the Department of Education’s responsibilities and power to the state.
One way the people behind Project 2025 plan on taking power from the Department of Education is to implement the Freidman Plan, a policy suggestion from 1955.. It proposes that the money that would typically be spent on a student through public schools should instead be given directly to the parents. These funds could be spent at the parent’s discretion, as long as it is in the name of education. This includes private schools, transportation, school supplies and tutoring. While that may seem innocuous, it would create an environment devoid of equity and cause disadvantaged students to fall behind, according to Overcash.
In April of this year, Biden proposed a plan that could help with student loans for 30 million Americans. And as political trends seem to do, this will swing the opposite way with the new administration. Project 2025 urges Trump to cut all ways to earn loan forgiveness. In addition to this, there will be additional annual payments, depending on education level. Some could pay up to $4,064 more per year.
The effects of Project 2025, if implemented, will echo throughout the country, no matter the political leanings of each state.
