How Trump’s Drastic K–12 Plans Will — and Won’t — Affect California Schools

From private school vouchers to threats over “woke” curriculum, the Trump administration has launched a slew of reforms intended to reshape K–12 schools. But it’s still too soon to determine how — or if — those efforts will play out in California, experts say.

“There’s been a strategy of rapid-fire change, and Trump is very publicly testing his authority,” said Julie Marsh, executive faculty director at Policy Analysis for California Education. “That’s led to a lot of anxiety and uncertainty. But the state still makes most decisions about what happens in schools.”

In a barrage of executive orders and promises since he was inaugurated, President Donald Trump has said he wants to:

• Dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, transferring its duties to other departments;
• Legalize school vouchers for parents to send their children to private and religious schools;
• Withhold funding from schools that use curriculum focused on race or ethnicity, or offer protections for transgender students;
• Overhaul Title IX, which prohibits against discrimination based on gender.

Conservatives are celebrating Trump’s efforts to reshape education. Joseph Komrosky, a member of the Temecula Valley Unified school board who was recalled in June and re-elected in November, said Trump’s orders, particularly those related to “woke” curriculum, will “protect innocent students and empower parents.”

“The hyper-sensitivity to LGBT issues, race, social justice — those days are over,” Komrosky said. “We need a return to common sense and a focus on the basics of reading, writing and math.”

Last year, Temecula’s school board was among a handful statewide to adopt a policy requiring school staff to notify parents if a student identifies as transgender. The policy was later struck down by the courts.

“This feels like vindication from the top down,” Komrosky said. “I don’t know how it’s going to play out in California, but I’m optimistic.”

Some of Trump’s plans have already come to pass, such as eliminating a ban on immigration raids at so-called sensitive locations, including schools. Although there have been few reports of federal agents entering schools, the possibility has led to panic in many parts of California, with parents keeping their children home from school for fear of getting deported. In some areas, superintendents say attendance has declined significantly, a blow to school funding and student learning.

Immigration and symbolism

In Ventura County, the threat of deportation has been a top concern about the Trump presidency, said County Superintendent Cesar Morales. Schools throughout the county have seen drops in attendance over the past few weeks, and school districts are taking steps to reassure families. They’ve held community meetings and set up resource websites, and Morales has done interviews in Spanish on local radio stations.

But the other threats may also have equally serious consequences, particularly for the most vulnerable students, Morales said. With the proposed elimination of the Department of Education, Morales worries about disruptions to special education and Title I funding for students with low income. Special education would likely move to another federal agency, but Project 2025, the conservative policy roadmap, calls for phasing out Title I (PDF).

Typically, districts use their Title I money to hire tutors, classroom aides and counselors; train teachers; and provide other services to students who need extra help. Morales fears that Title I cuts will lead to layoffs, at a time when schools are already grappling with budget uncertainty due to the end of COVID-19 relief grants.

But perhaps the biggest impact of Trump’s actions is symbolic, Morales said.

“When you have the most powerful country in the world dismantling its Department of Education, it means the interest is not there,” he said. “At a time when we need a renaissance in public education to meet the rapidly changing needs of society, we need to fortify public education, not tear it down.”

Budget may be a bigger concern

Andy Rotherham, a senior partner at Bellwether, an educational consulting organization, noted that most of Trump’s proposals have not happened, and may never happen. States make most decisions about schools, and receive relatively little federal funding — about 8% of their overall education budgets, even though much of that money goes to districts with high poverty.

A more urgent concern, he said, is whether — and how — the Republican-controlled Congress will reach a budget agreement before the mid-March deadline. A budget deal could include cuts to education, reflecting Trump’s desire to slash federal spending. That could affect everything from student loans to funding for rural schools. This week, Trump cut nearly $900 million in contracts at the U.S. Department of Education, affecting research and program evaluation.

Curriculum changes are a little more nuanced, Rotherham said. Activists from both sides have long lobbied for curriculum changes, especially in history and social studies. In California’s ethnic studies curriculum, for example, some want lessons that include the plight of Palestinians, while others want that topic excluded because they say it could be construed as antisemitic. Other fights center on how teachers cover subjects like colonialism, segregation, slavery and capitalism.

Rotherham suspects those fights will continue in California and elsewhere. Also, he said, how much those arguments affect what happens in classrooms varies, because teachers have a lot of leeway in what they teach.

Regardless, it’s too early to predict the impacts from Trump’s proposals, he said.

“Although there’s a lot of chaos, many of the big-picture ideas are still outstanding,” Rotherham said.

‘Hatred feels normalized’

That’s not much comfort for students. Some said they’re already experiencing the aftershocks of Trump’s attacks on immigrants and transgender youth, even if the policies haven’t taken effect yet. They also worry about their futures, especially in light of Trump’s pushback against environmental policies.

Kayla Houston, a senior at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, said that since Trump was elected in November, she’s seen an uptick in racist and homophobic bullying at her school. She’s even seen swastika graffiti on the walls, she said.

“It affects how people feel at school,” she said. “Students need to feel safe. … Now hatred feels normalized.”

Damian Martinez, a sophomore at Fowler High School in Fowler, south of Fresno, said he has friends who are afraid to leave their homes, even to go to the store, for fear of being deported. The threat of immigration raids has overwhelmed the entire community, a quiet farming town known for its grapes and citrus.

Beyond deportations, Martinez worries about the local economy. He wonders who will pick the crops if immigrants are afraid to show up for work, and whether the upheaval in the agricultural industry will drag down the local economy.

“This isn’t just stuff on the news. It’s affecting the people around me,” Martinez said. “It makes me sad because it feels like we’re going in the wrong direction.”

Another Trump proposal is expanding school vouchers and school choice. School vouchers, which already exist in 28 states, provide tax credits or other incentives for parents to send their children to private schools.

Vouchers, which teachers unions strongly oppose, have never been popular in California. In 2000, a ballot initiative that would have legalized vouchers lost by 70%. But school choice — families’ right to send children to schools other than their locally assigned school, including charter or magnet schools — has been legal for decades. In fact, California has more charter schools than any other state, and one of the highest enrollment percentages.

Confusion and resistance

California officials are fighting back against many of Trump’s proposals. Attorney General Rob Bonta has vowed to sue the federal government if it interferes with the state’s protections for transgender and immigrant students, and issued guidelines for schools on how to handle potential immigration raids and attacks on LGBTQ students.

The Association of California School Administrators pledged its “unwavering support” for transgender students and recently urged its members to uphold state laws protecting them. The California School Boards Association recently hosted a webinar on how schools should handle immigration threats, and it was among its most well-attended ever.

But plenty of school board members in California support Trump’s moves to overhaul K–12 education. School boards in Chino Valley, Temecula, Roseville and a dozen other districts have voted in the past year or two to require school staff to “out” transgender students to their parents. The policies were struck down by courts, but advocates vowed to continue to fight.

“We have communities that will be enraged at what’s happening, and some that will be enthusiastic, and everything in between,” said Troy Flint, spokesperson for the school boards association. “It’s a difficult time for school boards because traditionally the federal government has stayed out of local school decisions. It adds a layer of complexity, and there’s some confusion about that.”

Marsh, at Policy Analysis for California Education, echoed the sentiment about confusion. Some of Trump’s policy ideas are contradictory — for example, his belief that the federal government should have a reduced role in education, while he also wants to dictate curriculum.

“Right now, we don’t know how this will work out,” Marsh said. “Still, it’s a lot to deal with.”