In just over eight months, the second Trump administration has made a rapid succession of political hires and policy decisions at the U.S. Department of Education that could spur profound changes in the way schools are operated and children learn.
After years of advocating to expand private and religious education and homeschooling, using tax dollars, a cadre of conservative activists is in a position to push forward its agenda. Some of its policies are already undermining public schools, which it has denigrated as unsuccessful and out of step with Christian values, a ProPublica investigation found.
In many communities, public schools are valued hubs for community life and services, including meals, socializing and counseling. More than 80% of students are enrolled in traditional public schools, which must serve all children, including those with disabilities. The administration, however, views public schools as a monopoly that should be broken up.
“Millions of young Americans are trapped in failing schools, subjected to radical anti-American ideology,” Education Department Secretary Linda McMahon claimed immediately after taking office. She and others in the administration believe that progressive activists have led schools to focus too much on “woke” policies rather than on rigorous academic standards.
Agency officials and spokespeople declined to speak to ProPublica.
Here are five ways the Education Department under McMahon is creating profound change in public schools.
1. Encouraging an exodus
McMahon and President Donald Trump want to expand tax-funded school choice options, giving more families the financial means to leave public schools. Trump pushed Congress to pass, and signed into law, a new federal tax credit to finance the first national school voucher program, set to open to families on Jan. 1, 2027. The Education Department has also encouraged school districts to spend some federal money meant for disadvantaged students on services from private providers and on children from low-income families who live within district boundaries but attend private schools.
Public school leaders say they’ve already watched students transfer out to private and charter schools in recent years — and with them, they’ve lost essential per-pupil funding. They worry that voucher expansion will cause further damage to their budgets and threaten their survival.
Occasionally, McMahon has spoken positively of public schools — for example, praising some for literacy gains. But more often, and more emphatically, she portrays them as unsuccessful, as do her advisers.
Education Department adviser Lindsey Burke came from The Heritage Foundation, where she co-authored the education chapter of Project 2025, the policy playbook for the Trump administration. It calls for tax-funded education accounts so parents can customize their children’s schooling. Years ago, Burke said she hoped that one day “we will marvel at the fact that we once assigned children to government-run schools consigning the poorest to schools that were often failing and sometimes unsafe.”
2. Cutting federal funding
In a move that affects public school students across the country, the department has slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in grant funding for a variety of programs, including for mental health professionals and for training and supporting new teachers. More cuts are likely.
The administration’s proposed education budget for fiscal 2026 calls for combining 18 existing grant programs — including funds for rural schools and homeless students — into a single $2 billion block grant to be allocated to states. That is about $4.5 billion less than if the grants survived alone. Overall, the Trump administration has proposed reducing federal spending on education by 15% in the 2026 budget. Congress has not passed a budget yet, and the government is shut down.
3. Injecting God into the classroom
Department officials have decried what they view as liberal indoctrination in public schools — what one top leader describes as a “Marxist and anti-God and anti-family agenda.” They now are pursuing policies that align with conservative Christian values, including opposing protections for transgender students and restricting materials about sexuality. Early this year, the department notified schools it would follow Trump’s executive order stipulating that there are “two sexes, male and female.”
McMahon has made Meg Kilgannon, who advocates for more Christian leadership in school districts, a top adviser. Kilgannon has decried the removal of spirituality as a topic from classrooms, arguing that “if we’re not going to discuss our identity as Christians,” schools will push “racial identities” and “sexual identities” on students instead.
In a speech on Sept. 8 at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., Trump announced that the Education Department “will soon issue new guidance protecting the right to prayer in our public schools.” He said that the Bible is “an important part of the American story” and that he intends to “protect the Judeo-Christian principles of our founding, and we will protect them with vigor.”
4. Promoting curriculum choices
The federal government historically has not dictated curriculum choices, and McMahon has stressed that she thinks what is taught in schools is best left to local communities. Yet the Education Department is prioritizing patriotic education, promoting civics lessons that present American history and the nation’s founding principles in an “inspiring” manner. History should portray an “ennobling characterization” of the country’s past, the department said. Critics contend that the administration’s aim is to present a sanitized version of history, downplaying bitter episodes, including racial oppression and sexism.
The department has directed states and districts to avoid material that could make white students feel “intrinsic guilt” based on the oppressive acts of past generations. McMahon also supported the rights of parents to pull their children out of classes they find objectionable, such as those involving books with gay characters or themes.
5. Weakening civil rights protections
The department is using its Office for Civil Rights to press public schools to drop programs and policies designed to help Black or Hispanic students. The office has launched investigations against school districts for teaching lessons on systemic racism, hosting empowerment gatherings for students of color and providing remedial help for Black youth, all of which the administration says discriminates against white students.
In addition, the department has repeatedly targeted school districts for allowing students who were born male but identify as female to play on girls sports teams and use bathrooms and locker rooms reserved for girls. In some instances, the department has issued or threatened sanctions, including the potential loss of federal funding and referral to the U.S. Department of Justice for further action.