FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@edtrust.org

President Trump Deals More Blows to America’s Students

Statement from Denise Forte, president & CEO of EdTrust, on the recent wave of executive orders targeting education

WASHINGTON – “Last evening, President Trump signed several new executive orders that will further weaken our nation’s education system. This marks yet another dangerous step toward limiting what students can do and learn, and will transform the mission of public education to serve a narrow, ideological agenda.”

“From banning disciplinary policies that ensure students of color aren’t harshly penalized for the same or lesser offense than their peers, to weakening the accreditation process that oversee colleges and protects students from fraud, cutting civil rights protections, these executive orders mirror the blueprint laid out in Project 2025 — an extreme policy plan designed to eliminate the federal role in education, resegregate public schools, and relegate higher education to a privilege only afforded to wealthy families.”

Under the guise of “common sense” reforms, these policies would:

• Weaken oversight of post-secondary programs that prey on students and families through accreditation rollbacks
• Silence student and parent voices calling for policies that make students feel safe and supported in the classroom
• Permit school discipline practices that target and punish students of color and students with disabilities at disproportionate rates
• Gut funding for critical academic, financial aid, and student support programs
• Chill international collaboration in research through fear-based foreign influence rules

“While one executive order claims to support HBCUs, the broader agenda actively undercuts the very civil rights and economic mobility that HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions are built to protect. Another EO purports to advance K-12 students’ AI literacy, and while it has its merits, relies too heavily on partnerships with private vendors who stand to make significant profits.”

“These actions are not isolated. They are part of a coordinated effort to roll back generations of civil rights protections for student and families and privatize education for the few at the expense of the majority — a strategy spelled out in Project 2025 and echoed by the Trump administration as it proceeds to eliminate the Department of Education and offers no plans for how it will deliver a world-class education for all students, With the introduction of these new executive orders, the picture becomes even clearer that education is not a priority for this administration. This calls for students, parents, teachers, education leaders, and lawmakers to demand what all students deserve – the opportunity to succeed in school and life.”

EdTrust will delve deeper into the particulars of these executive orders and will keep fighting to save our students.

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About EdTrust

EdTrust is committed to advancing policies and practices to dismantle the racial and economic barriers embedded in the American education system. Through our research and advocacy, EdTrust improves equity in education from preschool through college, engages diverse communities dedicated to education equity and justice, and increases political and public will to build an education system where students will thrive.