IN THE 2024 US Elections, Donald Trump won with 312 electoral votes against Vice President Kamala Harris, who had 226. In total, Trump received 75,763,017 or 50.45% of votes, while Harris had 72,030,259 or 47.96%. 

This makes Trump the first convicted felon to become president of the United States. Many are thus questioning what is to happen following the elections, particularly in the sector of education. 

In the past, Trump’s spokesperson has said that he would ensure all Americans would be treated equally under the law regardless of their race, gender, or sexual orientation, but many are skeptical as to whether or not this is actually true. 

In the past, Trump promised to eliminate the Education Department to give states more authority over education. 

This is, as writer Shauneen Miranda of WA State Standard reports, despite the fact that the Education Department is not actually in charge of setting the school curriculum, but is actually in charge of promoting student achievement and preparing for global competitiveness through educational excellence and ensuring equal access.

Furthermore, the responsibility of education already falls mostly on states and local governments. It can be noted, though, that the department has influence over education via funding and policy directives.

He also promised that he would cut federal funding for any school or program pushing onto children Critical Race Theory (CRT), as well as gender ideology and any other “inappropriate” racial, sexual, or political content. 

According to writer Stephen Sawchuk of Education Week, CRT is an academic concept that believes that race is a social construct, and that racism is heavily embedded in a country’s legal systems and policies. 

“To an extent, the term “critical race theory” is now cited as the basis of all diversity and inclusion efforts regardless of how much it’s actually informed those programs,” he said, adding that the theory has also been associated with the Black Lives Matter protests that occured back in 2020, as well as the forming of LGBTQ+ clubs in schools, among other things.

Anti-trans rhetoric

Aside from cutting CRT, Trump also plans to “end the transgender craze” in America. 

This is no surprise given that, during his campaign, he often promoted anti-transgender rhetoric. Aside from this, NBC News reports that he also barred transgender people from enlisting in the military, and rolled back anti discrimination protections for the LGBTQ+ community during his first time being elected.

CBC News reports that Trump made numerous false claims about transgender people in his speeches. He also spent millions of dollars on campaign advertisements that had anti-transgender messaging. 

In one advertisement, it said: “Kamala’s agenda is “they-them,” not “you”. 

Another such example is telling stories about children getting sex change operations or transition-related surgeries at school without their parents’ permission.

At a campaign rally in Wisconsin, NBC News reports, he said: “Can you imagine you’re a parent and your son leaves the house and you say, “Jimmy, I love you so much, go have a good day in school,” and your son comes back with a brutal operation? Can you even imagine this? What the hell is wrong with our country?”

The news site also reports that no such evidence of a situation like this has ever been reported in the U.S.. There is also no evidence that a U.S. school has ever sent a student to receive a procedure outside of their grounds, either. 

As per Kate King, the president of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN), there is no way that anyone is doing surgery in a classroom in schools. 

She also noted that even just administering over-the-counter medication in schools requires permission from a physician and a parent – what more an entire surgery? 

Instead, he would push for schools to promote positive education about the nuclear family, as well as the roles of mothers and fathers. States and school districts who would compy with his vision for education, including adopting a “Parental Bill of Rights”, would thus receive boosts in funding. 

A credentialing body will also be created to certify teachers who “embrace patriotic values” and understand that their job is to “educate” children and not “indoctrinate” them. 

He would also prohibit federal agencies from promoting the concept of sex and gender transition no matter one’s age.

Severe consequences would thus befall any teachers or school officials who would suggest to a child that they could be trapped in the wrong body. 

Regarding this, he said: “The left-wing gender insanity being pushed at our children is an act of child abuse. Very simple. Here’s my plan to stop the chemical, physical and emotional mutilation of our youth.”

No more gender-affirming care, space for trans women in sports

Outside of education, included in his policy agenda are banning the participation of transgender people in women’s sports. Specifically, on his website, it states that he will “Keep men out of women’s sports.”

He also plans to cut federal funding for gender-affirming care, which consists of services (medical, non-medical, surgical, or mental health) for transgender and nonbinary people.

In 2023, Trump said that if re-elected, he would abolish gender-affirming care for minors. He equated this to child abuse, as well as child sexual mutilation. 

He stated, as per AP News, that he would ban hormonal or surgical intervention for transgender minors in all 50 states, would punish any doctors who did provide this care to minors, and would also pass a bill stating that there are “only two genders.”

He would also roll back Title IX protections for transgender students, which is a series of resources that aims to protect all students, including transgender and gender-nonconforming students, from sex discrimination. 

As per the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, Title X includes discrimination based on the nonconformity of a student with sex stereotypes and gender identity, including a student’s transgender status.

Included as well in his agenda are sealing the border and stopping the “migrant invasion”, carrying out the largest deportation operation in American history, and deporting any “pro-Hamas radicals” to “make college campuses safe and patriotic again.”

Trump’s promise has long been to “Make America great again.” Apparently, that is at the expense of minority groups, whether it be in terms of race, class, or sexual orientation.