With the Democratic nomination seemingly comfortably in Kamala Harris' hands, the 2020 presidential election can now turn to issues of policy. While Donald Trump has pretended to disavow the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 in favor of his vague party platform, it is clear that the Project 2025 will shape his administration's priorities if he's elected.
When it comes to K-12 and higher education, Project 2025 is a bold blueprint for disaster in American education. It seeks to unravel decades-long efforts to cultivate equitable learning spaces and systems. If implemented, it would unwind critical protections for American schoolchildren, college students, and erase any effort from the federal government to improve America's schools.
Here is why you should be alarmed.
Elimination of the Department of Education
Perhaps the most alarming recommendation in Project 2025 is the elimination of the U.S. Department of Education. The authors advocate for the decentralization of educational decision-making and funding, shifting these responsibilities entirely to state and local levels. While America has a history of local and state control in education, federal supports like the Office for Civil Rights have been essential in enforcing equitable access to opportunity, particularly for low-income students and students of color. Not to mention programs like Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that have been vital in supporting underserved student populations and encouraging states to raise expectations for student learning.
Project 2025's proposal to move these programs under the Department of Health and Human Services or phase them out entirely is a deliberate attack on decades of progress in educational equity.
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To put forth such recommendations against the backdrop of COVID-19 recovery, when student achievement has declined precipitously and absenteeism has skyrocketed, is all the more troubling. Now is the time when schools need more support, resources, and guidance to improve. Dismantling the federal effort to improve schools would be a disaster for students, teachers, and parents alike.
Attacks on Public Schools
Under the guise of "school choice," the writers of Project 2025 seek to undermine public education. We see this agenda already playing out in red states, where voucher programs and Education Savings Accounts are being rapidly expanded, costing state governments millions of dollars and largely supporting affluent parents who were already enrolling their children in private schools.
In the context of declining enrollments driven by demographic changes, now is hardly the time to be diverting public monies to unaccountable private schools. This will put our most vulnerable schools—those tasked with helping our most underserved students—at risk of school closure. We are not knee-jerk opponents of private and charter options for families, but the research makes very clear that these alternative options work best in a context where there is great oversight and accountability. Ironically, that is precisely the opposite of the approaches advocated in Project 2025 and rolling out in red states. Everything we know about school choice tells us that these reforms will not work and will put tremendous fiscal pressure on local public schools, to boot.
Undermining Access and Diversity in Higher Education
Project 2025's proposals for higher education are equally concerning. The plan calls for rolling back federal student loan programs and shifting toward private sector lending, which we know have been especially predatory to folks of color and low-income families. This move could severely limit access to higher education for these students who too often rely on federal loans to afford college.
Moreover, the emphasis on promoting "intellectual diversity" and reducing the influence of accreditation agencies risks undermining efforts to create inclusive and supportive campuses. Accreditation agencies play an important role in maintaining academic standards and ensuring that institutions provide a safe and equitable learning environment. Weakening their oversight will certainly open the door to discriminatory practices and lower educational quality.
The stakes this November election couldn't be higher. Project 2025's proposals, if implemented, would dismantle federal support systems, divert funds from public schools, and undermine efforts to create diverse and equitable learning environments. We must remain vigilant and vigorously reject efforts to reverse the strides we've made, ensuring that every student, regardless of their background, has unfettered opportunity to thrive. The future of our education system depends on it.
Royel M. Johnson is an associate professor of education at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education and is author of The Big Lie About Race in America's Schools.
Morgan Polikoff is professor of education at the USC Rossier School of Education and the co-faculty director of the USC EdPolicy Hub.
The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
