Executive Orders Target Schools

(February 3, 2025)

The Trump Administration took office on January 20 and since then, there has been a flurry of Executive Orders which has caused confusion, uncertainty, and for many of the individuals and families that our partners serve, fear. Many of the Executive Orders are targeted at Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies and policies related to LGBTQ+ youth, including the ones released on January 29.

On January 29, the Administration released two K-12 related education Executive Orders, “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” and “Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families.” The first order prohibits public school entities that receive federal funding from directly or indirectly teaching “gender ideology and critical race theory in the classroom.” This Executive Order is seeking to prevent schools from acknowledging transgender identities and fundamental teachings about race, such as “white privilege” and “structural racism.” While the order aims to dismantle the gains we have made in gender and racial teachings, it seeks to promote “patriotic” education. The order continues by threatening legal action to any teacher, administrator, and school who supports the social transition of a transgender child or youth in the school building without a parent’s direct consent. It is likely that the order will face many challenges in court and its future path is yet undecided.

Let us be clear. These orders do two things – 1. On the simplest level – it exerts federal authority into local school curriculum and decisions that are not within the authority of the federal government. These decisions are decided on a district by district level and approved by the state. 2. This is an appalling use of federal authority to erase gains we have made in understanding why we have such racial disparities across our nation. Not until we can get a clear grasp on how we got here, can we move forward. Additionally, the attack on transgender children and youth continues and at Allies for Children, we focus on supporting and improving the wellbeing of all children, including those who identify as LGBTQ+.

We will continue to work with partners to advance policies that look to protect, support and improve the wellbeing of youth – including our black and brown children and youth and our transgender youth throughout the county.

The second Executive Order, “Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families”, looks to advance parent choice by instructing the U.S. Education Secretary to provide guidance to states on how they can use federal formula driven program dollars (think Title 1) to support parent choice. It also instructs the U.S. Defense Secretary to outline how defense dollars can be redirected to support education vouchers for families.

All of these orders are on the heels of a recently rescinded freeze on all federal grant programs, which would have included WIC. And, a halt on grants that have a “DEI” component in them. We will continue to monitor the activities at the federal level and continue to advocate for all children, especially our most vulnerable children and families in our black and brown and LGBTQ+ communities.

Additional Info:
https://www.aasa.org/resources/blog/two-education-related-executive-orders-issued
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/us/trump-executive-orders-local-control-schools.html
https://www.glsen.org/activity/know-your-rights

Jamie Baxter, Allies for Children Executive Director