When former President Trump returns to the White House, Republicans want to make a gigantic step in education policy.
Representative Byron Donalds (Florida) helped kick off the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee this week with the singing of Praise for free school choiceand said the Biden administration is “in the pocket of the radical left teachers’ unions that keep poor kids like me trapped in failing schools with no way out.”
The official Republican platform emphasizes, among other conservative priorities, cutting funding for schools that teach critical race theory, excluding transgender girls from women’s sports, and deporting “pro-Hamas radicals” from universities.
“The manifesto itself is very different this year from previous manifestos. The previous manifestos were much longer and much more detailed when it came to policy measures, and even in some other areas of education, it points in the right direction in language, but without a lot of detail,” said Jason Bedrick, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy. “So it points to things like parental rights, but what exactly does that mean? How exactly is the party going to implement them? This document is not particularly clear.”
Culture wars have the highest priority
Republicans are planning gigantic changes after four years of a Democratic presidency that blocked their efforts on parental rights and what they believe should be taught in schools.
“Republicans offer a plan to promote great K-12 schools, ensure safe learning environments free from political interference, and restore parental rights. We are committed to an education system that empowers students, supports families, and promotes American values. Our education system must prepare students for successful lives and good-paying jobs,” the introduction to the education portion of the GOP platform states.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, as schools closed and academic performance declined, parental rights became an increasingly popular topic of conversation.
Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a national Bill of Parental Rights The bill came back in 2023, but failed to pass the Democratic Senate and would likely not be signed by President Biden.
Other Republican issues at the national level that have been fought in GOP state legislatures include opposing critical race theory and teaching gender identity and sexual orientation education in schools.
Eighteen states have already banned critical race theory in grades 1-12 classrooms, and others are considering following suit.
Four Republican states sued the Biden administration for the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the discrimination aspects of Title IX.
“We believe that schools should educate, not indoctrinate,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) said at the convention on Tuesday. “We stand for parental rights, including universal school choice.”
The Republican platform also signals support as red states seek to more religion in the classroom.
Louisiana requires a poster of the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every classroom, and Oklahoma is attempting to integrate the Bible into civics and history classes.
“Republicans will reinstate the 1776 Commission, promote fair and patriotic civics education, and veto efforts to nationalize civics education. We will support schools that teach America’s founding principles and Western civilization,” the Republican platform states.
School choice and school structure
Aside from the culture war, Republicans want to make gigantic progress in school governance.
Topping the list is school choice, which has spread rapidly in Republican-led states, most recently through Education Savings Plans (ESAs). ESAs are government-funded accounts for parents who choose not to send their children to a time-honored public school. Each year, families are given a set amount of money to spend on private or homeschooling.
“When I was in first grade, my mother took me out of public school because she saw that public school was failing me,” Donalds said at the convention. “I needed a challenge and the opportunity that only a private school could provide. My mother is a teacher and she really believed in my potential, but Democratic politicians wanted to keep me in a failing school, but my mother fought for me.”
Republicans want all states in the country to introduce ESA accounts.
“This is a litmus test for Republicans and that has now been cemented by making clear in the platform that the party supports school choice for all,” Bedrick said, adding, “I would expect the base to hold elected Republican officials accountable for the program.”
Other reforms that Republicans are seeking in the school sector include the abolition of tenure for teachers, the introduction of performance-related payments, the revision of disciplinary procedures for students, the funding of vocational training programs and, more generally, the “return to[ing] Education to the states.”
“The United States spends more money per student on education than any other country in the world, and yet we rank at the bottom of every education list in terms of outcomes. We will close the Department of Education in Washington, DC, return it to the states where it belongs, and let the states run our education system the way it should be run,” the platform says.
