Advocates have long warned about the interconnected threats to both education and democracy, but the lightning speed at which these attacks are unfolding under the Trump administration is astonishing. This intentional campaign of shock and awe is meant to send the administration’s opposition into submission—or, a tailspin. It is also meant to signal strength, power, and action to its supporters across our communities.
And so in just a handful of weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump has already signed executive orders impacting nearly every aspect of public education in the U.S.—from illegally attempting to dictate classroom curricula (“Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling”), to undermining protections from discrimination by reverting to 2020 Title IX enforcement based on “biological sex,” to prioritizing privatization initiatives that intentionally divert funding from public schools.
Our aim must be to reach the other side of this administration with the core functions of this country’s democratic institutions and the promise of public education both intact.
This barrage of executive actions is an intentional mix of impulsive and arbitrary power grabs—and initiatives clearly rooted in Project 2025 and the American First Policy Agenda, both of which are the fruits of a vicious entanglement of white supremacy, ultra-nationalism, and white Christianity. The president’s allies have worked tirelessly over the course of the last four years to create division and conflict in school districts across the country. From book bans and efforts to rewrite U.S. racial history in school curriculums, to policies targeting transgender and LGBTQ students, they are intentionally undermining parents’ trust in public schools to pave the way for funneling taxpayer dollars from public education into private hands.
This agenda extends far beyond efforts to dismantle public education. There’s mounting evidence that we’re entering into a full-blown constitutional crisis, wherein the intended checks and balances between our branches of government are not holding up to the administration’s unbridled assertions of power. The federal government is out of balance and increasingly leaning toward an executive branch that has engaged in unconstitutional overreach from day one.
Yet, we must remind ourselves that this surge of executive orders is a reflection of the administration’s weakness—not its power. If the administration felt it could succeed in meaningfully restructuring the government via legislative action—the kind of action that would be both constitutional and lasting—it would be working with Congress to enact those changes. But instead with slim majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate and the lowest inaugural approval rating since 1953, the administration is left signalling its power with the hope that we’ll concede to it.
We will not. Our aim must be to reach the other side of this administration with the core functions of this country’s democratic institutions and the promise of public education both intact. We are crystal clear about what the administration’s underlying motives and limitations are because we understand what time it is. The promise of so much that we care about—from the promise of our public schools to build productive, civically engaged, and healthy futures for each of our children to the promise of our democracy to represent and respond to the needs and will of our diverse communities—is at stake.
Most Americans want an end to the polarizing and ideologically driven attacks on our schools. We are not seeking needless strife. Life is already full of very real struggles to find well-paying jobs; to pay mounting bills; and to cover the costs of childcare, basic life necessities, and access the healthcare we need to stay or get healthy. We understand that our public schools play essential roles in our communities, from educating our children to serving as gathering points where we vote and set our town budgets. We understand that we pay taxes into a system of government whose sole purpose is to serve us, the people. And we understand that our schools and our government more broadly are imperfect because they are led by people. And just as we strive as individuals to continually do better and learn, we expect the same from our schools and our government. Most Americans want improvement. And, we want to be heard and better served.
We will not concede. We will show up for our public schools. We will show up for each other and our future.
We also understand that the administration’s best hope at consolidating the unconstitutional power it seeks is by intimidating lawmakers so they bend to its will and the rest of us to preemptively concede our rights and be silent in our opposition. We will not concede. Instead, we will be clear-eyed, focused, and undeterred. Together, we will protect and continue to advance the promise of both our public schools and democracy in this country.
Here are the actions you can take:
- Do not preemptively silence your voice of opposition. Self-censoring in conversations with friends and neighbors, or holding back on submitting letters and op-eds to local papers, speaking up on radio shows, or showing up at community rallies all mean relinquishing fundamental rights you still have. Keep asserting them.
- Call on congressional leaders to show up for public education. Reach out to your representatives to share the importance of public schools to you and your community, and the need for them to hold firm against the administration’s proposals and exercise their voice to advocate for the funding and policies schools need.
- Help state leaders understand and act on their vital role in protecting and supporting vulnerable students to learn and succeed. State boards of education and administrators should take steps to shore up school resources and civil rights protections, including by connecting schools to sanctuary state and local efforts. Look to the Los Angeles Unified School District; the city of Portland, Maine; and New Jersey for ideas on what those steps can look like.
- Support school board members and local education leaders to push back against censorship and voucher programs that undercut their decision-making authority and make it harder to provide rigorous and engaging learning experiences for students. The growing number of school boards that passed resolutions to combat school vouchers make clear that community-driven, grassroots initiatives can have a powerful impact.
- Join other students, families, educators, and advocates mobilizing for a system of public education that supports every student, family, and community to thrive. Tapping into state and national networks can amplify the impact of local advocacy and provide avenues to mobilize against other harmful measures as a united front. Last year in Kentucky, students did exactly that to defeat Amendment 2, a ballot measure that would have allowed public tax dollars to be used for private schools. Students mobilized against the measure by elevating their concerns in the media, educating their local communities, and organizing a bus tour to get the word out across the state, proving the power of networks in the face of harmful bills.
The threats facing public education and democracy in this country are profound, but they are not insurmountable. Privatization efforts and ideological attacks demand sharper focus, stronger connections, and a unified approach to meet the challenges ahead. Each obstacle we confront in the fight for public education is deeply interconnected with the broader fight for justice and inclusion in our society and our democratic institutions.
