#Department of Education

[howlingday]

I remember a friend of mine going to college where the professor gave poc students A+ regardless and repeatedly bashed white/Caucasian students for not being poc. If we can keep these kinds of asshole professors out, then that's fine.

Still, something about dismantling and entire department to "defend tradition and western civilization" does sound really skeevy. Not to mention the "fast-tracked" students that might slip through and do more harm than good.

I dunno. I don't mess with politics too much, or education since my BS.

In this video detailing his day one plans for education reform after disbanding the Department of Education, he explicitly states that he is going to enforce a “standard” where universities are required to “defend tradition and western civilization,” and will confiscate their entire endowment fund if they don’t meet this standard. He details that this will be done by dismantling all college accreditation institutions and replacing them with party loyal Republicans who will ensure universities are granting “fast-tracked” degrees to get people into the workplace.

This is, beyond an obviously fascist move to crack down on dissent and totally destroy the concept of academic freedom, in his own words, “crushing his enemies.” The left in this country retreated into academia for job security, but the humanities as we know them will be gone completely soon. This is not an overreaction, it is literally already happening. Most of my colleagues are already looking for new jobs. For what it’s worth, republicans are very good at identifying and crushing their enemies - the left as a whole has no choice but to exit the academies and enter the workforce. It’s on us to make him regret heightening this particular contradiction.

[mostly-funnytwittertweets]

[owl-noire]

Free Educational Resources for Teachers and Students

With Trump's talk of eliminating the US Department of Education, I want to compile a list of free and accessible materials for students, educators, and continuous learners.

Project Gutenburg has a library of over 70,000 free eBooks and audiobooks, with particular emphasis on those in the Public Domain.

The California Department of Education has compiled a list of Free Educational Resources that were originally meant for distance learning during Covid. I think these are primarily for grades K-12.

Library Finder is a free website that can point you in the direction of your closest local library. Libraries are an amazing resource for literacy programs, community outreach, computer access, and much more.

The University of San Diego has compiled a list of Top 24 Educational Resources for Teachers. Most of these are free, free with ads, or free with an account.

National Geographic has a list of Education Resources on their website. I highly encourage everyone to explore the website on their own time.

PBS has a bunch of different educational resources on their website that you can browse easily by subject and grade level.

Please add more resources if you come across them. This is by no means a comprehensive list.

Education is a right, not a privilege.

[tvmusiclife]

Getting rid of the Department of Education but creating the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for Elon Musk,

Picking a Fox News anchor as the Secretary of Defense,

Florida's congressional s*x tr*fficer as Attorney General,

[simply-ivanka]

Trump Gears Up for Change on Wokeness With Education Overhaul

The president-elect has laid out big changes for America’s classrooms, including expanding school choice—and shutting down the Department of Ed

By Matt Barnum and Douglas Belkin -- Wall Street Journal

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to remake education in the U.S., pledging to exert more control over funding and classroom lessons, to curb what he views as left-leaning tendencies at universities and even to dismantle the Department of Education.

If his White House delivers on those promises, more families could get money to send kids to private school. Schools would face pressure to limit accommodations for transgender students and to end some initiatives aimed at addressing racial disparities.

The goals are at once ambitious and controversial.

“There are a lot of very smart people who are very excited to get into positions where we can actually start making change happen,” said Tiffany Justice, a Trump ally and the co-founder of the conservative parents group Moms for Liberty.

Eliminating the Department of Education

Trump has promised to close the Education Department and has criticized U.S. school spending. 

In his first term, he proposed merging the education and labor departments, but Congress didn’t proceed. It isn’t clear whether lawmakers would go for the idea in a second term, nor how the department’s functions—such as protecting students’ civil rights, providing funding for students with disabilities and distributing student loans—would be handled if it were closed. 

Some Republicans have been reluctant to eliminate the department or cut federal funding that flows to schools in their constituencies. An Associated Press poll last year found that nearly two-thirds of Americans said the federal government spends too little on education.

“I don’t think you’ll see enormous cuts because that’s super unpopular,” said Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education think tank.

Trump will have to fill the education secretary role for now. Cabinet positions often go to prominent politicians and political allies.

Presidents sometimes look to state education chiefs. High-profile leaders in Republican states include Oklahoma’s Ryan Walters, who has fought culture-war battles in schools; Louisiana’s Cade Brumley, who has supported private-school choice and tougher school disciplinary measures; and Florida’s Manny Diaz Jr., who has overseen many conservative policy changes.

In an interview, Walters said he is focused on implementing Trump’s agenda in Oklahoma. Through a spokesperson, Brumley said “my focus is on continuing the historic educational progress we are making in Louisiana.” Diaz, through a spokesperson, said if asked to serve, “Of course you listen.” Justice of Moms for Liberty said that she would be open to the position, though hasn’t spoken to the Trump team about it.

A Trump transition spokeswoman didn’t comment on specific candidates.

Waging war on ‘woke’

Trump has said he would use the power of the purse to limit left-wing ideology in schools and universities.

Although a president can’t immediately cut off money to any school, he could use various laws to pressure schools to address antisemitism on campus, disband programs that focus on nonwhite student groups or reduce accommodations for transgender students.

Trump has said that he believes that Title IX, which bars sex discrimination in education, should prevent transgender girls from playing on female sports teams. This would be a stark reversal from the Biden administration, which has interpreted Title IX to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity.

During the campaign, Trump attacked Kamala Harris for being too supportive of transgender rights, an issue that resonated with some voters.

Trump has also indicated that he would use civil-rights law to challenge critical race theory, a term used by conservatives to describe some efforts to teach about racism and racial disparities. This could include targeting university diversity, equity and inclusion offices, legal analysts have said.

“On issues that I worry about…this is at the top,” said Rachel Perera, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a center-left think tank.

Another tool Trump has at his disposal is the accreditation system, which gives universities access to federal money. He has called it a “secret weapon.”

Colleges and universities need to meet standards set by independent accreditors to be eligible for federal funds.

Trump could weaken the influence of accreditors—which he considers too left-leaning—by reassigning some of their responsibilities to the Education Department, said Judith Eaton, past president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Alternatively, the administration could replace current accreditors with ones more closely aligned with Trump’s vision, she added.

Members of Trump’s inner circle “regard the higher-ed cartel as fundamentally out of order,” said Frederick Hess, director of education policy studies at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.

‘Universal school choice’

Trump wants “universal school choice for every American family,” according to his platform. That likely means providing a public subsidy for private-school tuition or other educational expenses outside the public school system.

Trump has indicated he would support the Educational Choice for Children Act, already proposed in Congress. The law would provide $10 billion in federal tax credits to go toward private-school tuition, home schooling or other educational costs.

Backers say the bill would provide money for up to two million children, and help parents direct and customize their children’s education. School-choice critics say that these programs drain resources from public schools.

Prior efforts by Republican presidents to subsidize private schools—including those supported by Ronald Reagan, and Trump in his first term—have failed to garner congressional support. And while many Republican-controlled state legislatures have adopted such programs in recent years, voters in Colorado, Kentucky and Nebraska rejected school-choice ballot measures on Nov. 5.

Some Republicans “are not fully on board yet,” said Jim Blew, who served as an education official during Trump’s first term. “I think they will be in the new administration.”

[transmasculinizing]

[thashining]

Education

[girlactionfigure]

[dosesofcommonsense]

The impacts of a broken educational system.

End the Federal Department of Education

[damianwaynerocks]

my school district was so bad. like so bad. severely underfunded and the education itself was abysmal at best. and i know this. like i had to study extra hard in university to keep up with basic concepts that everybody else already knew. i graduated in the top percentile of my university but i still don’t know basic knowledge. i thought everyone from my school was in agreement that our school sucked.

and yet i just saw a guy i graduated high school with on facebook saying that defunding the department of education is okay because “my school was underfunded and i’m fine.” and im like tommy. tommy. you didnt know where russia was on a map until 12th grade. one time in 9th grade two kids were convinced that the usa is in south america. i still dont know what a prime number is. what do you mean we don’t need more funding.

[salvadorbonaparte]

I hate being a PhD student in the USA

[nando161mando]

Trump announces he will end the Department of Education

[diablo1776]

[luvlowrise]

apparently having equal access to getting a higher education is too much to ask for.

[usernamesarehard1]

Why the Department of Education is IMPORTANT

Keep trump OUT of office

I would also recommend finding this video in the actual YouTube app/website because the comments add even more information. It is insane!