This article was originally published by the Texas Observer, a nonprofit investigative news outlet and magazine. Sign up for their weekly newsletter, or follow them on Facebook and X.
This year I worked as an election polls worker in the North Forest MUD district in the Houston area. As an advocate and worker in the arena of education and mental health, election season is always a crucial turning point for policy reform. Learning the ins and outs of registering voters, setting up polling sites, and counting ballots, one unsaid portion of the job is active listening. Nothing brings voters to polls quicker than anger for policies they disagree with. As a worker, you listen unbiasedly and remind them of the power they wield by showing up to make their opinion heard in the voting booth. This election year, I have done my share of listening to discussions of controversial tide changes in both policies and political campaigns.
President Joe Biden, of course, has stepped down and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. This endorsement carries the ability to elect the first female, Black, Asian-American President. But on the other side, conservatives have been pushing Project 2025 in association with former President Donald Trump’s run for reelection and the efforts to turn the White House policies red on all fronts. Some of their proposals could further harm the foundation of our America: public education.
Project 2025 creates a blueprint for conservative leadership. Project 2025 states, “The project will build on four pillars that will, collectively, pave the way for an effective conservative Administration.” These four pillars include a policy agenda, personnel, training, and a 180-day playbook, all underpinning a new administration. The almost 900-page playbook highlights controversial changes to indoctrinate current and future leaders.
I want to bring attention to chapter 11, “Department of Education,” by Lindsey M. Burke. The very first sentence states, “MISSION: Federal education policy should be limited and, ultimately, the federal Department of Education should be eliminated.” With the education department coming up on its 45th anniversary, it is alarming to see plans to disband it written so starkly. This controversial proposal comes at a time of a widespread teacher shortage across Texas and nationwide.
Following the reopening of schools after the COVID-19 lockdowns, educators began to leave in waves, citing burnout, lack of equitable pay, and a culture demanding hard work with little financial return. In the 2023-2024 school year, 86 percent of Texas school districts struggled to fill vacancies. In 2021-2022, the teacher attrition rate peaked at 13.4 percent, the highest rate in the state’s recorded history.
After working as a substitute teacher within the Cypress-Fairbanks school district for the past three years, it’s become clear there are never enough temporary solutions to fix a long-standing problem. School districts have turned to controversial means to fill vacancies, namely hiring uncertified teachers and offering unsustainable hiring bonuses. Over 15,300 teachers were hired in 2024 without teaching certifications. Yet, these temporary means have not increased long-term teacher retention, and therefore sights have been set on changing national policy.
The U.S. Department of Education has recognized the need for reforms and improved educator retention. Officials released a policy brief designed to: “Eliminate the educator shortage for every school by ensuring that schools are appropriately staffed, paying educators competitively, and strengthening pathways into the profession.” Those goals exist in stark contrast to the policies outlined in Project 2025. Over the past year, new laws such as SB 17 enacted under conservative policymakers created a ban on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs in higher education. The repercussions were immediate as those programs were removed from schools, educators were laid off, and students lost access to DEI offices. Our educational system has already suffered. How much greater would the losses be if former President Donald Trump were reelected?
In the past, the educational department’s leadership has pushed our nation forward through the implementation of Title IX , the Higher Education Act, the Every Student Succeeds Act, the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the 2024 National Educational Plan, and the list goes on. It also has worked to reduce student achievement gaps, and retain qualified and diverse teaching staff.
The Texas Education Agency, overseen by the Commissioner of the Department of Education, coordinates with the State Board of Education to provide support and financial assistance to primary and secondary educational schools. These agencies are supposed to create checks and balances as the state counterparts of the Department of Education.
But the dissolution of the federal education department would also harm the authority of state agencies that have operated under DOE rules and regulations. This would cause further losses of jobs, funding, and agencies that provide both structural and financial support. Our educators would be left without foundational reinforcements, and on a federal level, educational checks and balances would dissolve. The hierarchy of national and state agencies would be removed starting with the DOE and trickling down to state and local divisions. The results would be catastrophic.
Teachers and teachers’ unions are calling for more funding, support, and a system that protects them. Removing the Department of Education would only perpetuate the problems.
Our educational future is in the hands of voters on November 5th. Our voices will determine whether the Department of Education will celebrate its 45th anniversary of continuous strides toward providing equal access to education for all Americans. I will leave you with the words of Miguel Cardona, a teacher who now serves as the U.S. Secretary of Education, “It’s not only our responsibility but our commitment at the Department of Education to encourage, invest in, and lift up teachers across America. The future of our country and our children’s futures depend on it.”
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