Project 2025’s proposed educational changes
Project 2025, otherwise known as the Presidential Transition Project, has recently grown in relevance across the United States as the election nears. After Democratic Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris condemned the Project during the most recent presidential debate, voter awareness and opposition to its policies has grown to two-thirds of Americans, according to a UMass Amherst poll. The project is a political initiative published by the Heritage Foundation, a playbook for the first 180 days of the next president's administration. One of the many changes outlined in the document is a shift towards more conservative processes within the education system. If passed, the Samo community and their families may feel the effects of many of these policies.
The document itself has 900-pages, filled with policies that its proponents are pushing to be implemented if a conservative president is elected. One of these proposed policies is the abolition of the U.S. Department of Education. According to its mission statement, the Department of Education exists to "promote student achievement and foster educational excellence and ensure equal access." The department also collects information on schools and teachers so that states will be able to establish effective school systems. Samo English Teacher Alana Rivera (’13) explains why those within the Heritage Foundation wish to dismantle the Department of Education.
“The idea would be that control of education would shift to state and local governments.” Rivera said. “That could be an issue in states that are currently having laws where they are not allowed to have sexual education courses or where they’re not allowed to talk about the LGBTQI+ community, which can be dangerous for the kids who are part of those communities who have to live in that area and go to those schools.”
Within schools, policies also mention abolishing the Title 1 program and Head Start program. The Title 1 program helps schools that consist of lower-income student populations, providing funds and sponsorships to students whose circumstances may cause them to be behind in their classes or at least have a high possibility of falling behind. In the United States, the National Center for Education Statistics states that 43% of schools qualify for Title 1, with 49,229 benefiting from the program. In California alone there are 2,579 schools that are Title 1. McKinley Elementary, a Santa Monica school with many alumni attending Samo, is an example of a Title 1 school that might be harmed if the program is abolished. Rivera discusses just what Title 1 oversees.
“Without [Title 1], kids would be coming to school hungry and they wouldn’t have the resources to have a successful education," Rivera said. "One program deals with the prevention and intervention for students who are neglected or at risk in any way and not having that would mean that kids who are already in danger might never be found out.”
The Head Start program supports children in low-income families, from birth to age five with services that focus on early learning and development, health and family well-being. Within the Head Start program, about 14.2 percent of the over 787,000 children have disabilities, according to civic platform New America, with even more at risk of developing disabilities. Project 2025 aims for the removal of these legal protections for students with disability, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a law that ensures students with disabilities have access to special education and related services such as speech therapy and counseling. The removal of the law could mean that students may no longer have access to something that grants them more equal footing with their peers.
Project 2025 also wishes to rescind the federal civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ students. School officials and teachers would be prohibited from using a student’s pronouns that don't correlate to their biological sex or a name not listed on the student’s birth certificate, unless given written permission from a parent. Project 2025 would also restrict Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The policies in the initiative wish to cut down access to gender-affirming care and limit discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation within an educational setting. Rivera discusses how this can be harmful for queer students who may feel unrepresented if this is approved fully.
“Suicide is higher in children of the LGBTQ community.” Rivera said. “So if they do not feel accepted or cared for, or they’re being told that they do not deserve to learn about themselves or their history, it can definitely lead to bad things happening to them.”
However, not all changes would affect students in primary or secondary school. Students who are graduating this year will also be affected specifically by a policy limiting accreditation agencies, which set and enforce standards for higher education as well as managing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies, which set programs and guidelines aiming to guarantee fair opportunities to people from different backgrounds. According to Inside Higher Ed, Project 2025's limitations on accreditation agencies would put quality assurance in the hands of the universities themselves and shift postsecondary education away from the spread of liberal ideas that some conservatives have labeled "Marxist."
The initiative also aims to roll back the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The program helps those who work jobs in government and nonprofits to have their loans forgiven after 10 years of making payments. They also wish to rescind PLUS loans, which is a program for the parent of a dependent undergraduate student or to a graduate student to help pay their college tuition. The biggest hit would be Project 2025’s policy to remove the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA). FSA oversees more than $120 billion in grants, work-study funds and low-interest loans, which go to about 13 million students per year.
Art by Raha Ghoroghchian
These policies to change funding and student experience are not fully guaranteed to pass. As CBS News reports, Project 2025's playbook for the future of the US is supported by former Trump officials, and many of its policies are therefore more likely to be passed under a conservative government. However, Presidential Candidate Donald Trump and his campaign have denied any connection to Project 2025. Vice Presidential Nominee JD Vance clarified the potential future administration's stance on the Project during an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press."
"I guarantee there are things that Trump likes and dislikes about that 900-page document," Vance said. "But he [if elected] is the person who will determine the agenda of the next administration."