What does Trump’s Agenda47 say about education? What to know

President-elect Donald Trump has named Linda McMahon as education secretary, marking another staunch Trump supporter with an unconventional background put up as a potential Cabinet member.
Trump’s banner plan for the Department of Education is to scrap it and send the functions back to the states, though there are some doubts on whether he could accomplish that. But throughout his campaign, he has also proposed a number of initiatives for education, largely aimed at culture war issues.
Trump’s proposed initiatives have ruffled some feathers in the education community. The National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the U.S., had endorsed Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the race.
“As educators, we are united in supporting every student—Native, Asian, Black, Latino, newcomer, white, LGBTQ+ and disabled—who deserve high-quality, safe, and welcoming public schools,” NEA president Becky Pringle said in a statement after the election. “And as educators, we will continue to remind him that the government of the United States and those elected to office have a responsibility to serve all people.” 
Here were some of Trump’s policy plans for education that he suggested throughout the campaign:
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Experts previously highlighted to USA TODAY how several of Trump’s Agenda47 education proposals focus largely on political issues that stir discourse, and less so on education policy.
Trump outlined key initiatives for “great schools leading to great jobs” in an Agenda47 post published in September 2023. Among the president-elect’s proposals are:
The GOP’s Core 20 Promises also vowed to “cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, radical gender ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children.”
The Trump-Vance transition team did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025, the blueprint for a conservative president created by the Heritage Foundation. However, many who were involved in the playbook’s creations have ties to Trump and his first administration.
Like Trump’s plan, Project 2025 calls for the end of the Education Department. But it specifies that functions should be shifted to other federal agencies.
For example, it proposes moving the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services’ role to the Department of Justice and the Office for Civil Rights. The plan also would move the job of administering the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding to the Department of Health and Human Service’s Administration for Community Living and converted to a “a no-strings formula block grant.” Project 2025 also calls for spinning off the Office of Federal Student Aid into its own government corporation.
Concerns about the mandate’s impact led several online to falsely believe it would eliminate education for students with individualized education programs. But a USA TODAY fact check showed those concerns are overstated. However, the Project 2025 plan could still impact students by changing funding and oversight mechanisms.
Project 2025 isn’t the only one calling for the end of the Department of Education. Trump has repeatedly said on the campaign trail that he plans to shutter the department.
“We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort,” Trump said in a statement Tuesday announcing McMahon as his education secretary pick.
Though K-12 education policy is largely handled at the state and local levels, the Department of Education helps enforce federal laws by using compliance as a condition for funding. Those laws protect against things like discrimination, for instance. Federal funding makes up roughly a tenth of public school funding, USA TODAY previously reported.
The department also plays a big role in helping to ensure students can afford college by overseeing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Pell Grants and the country’s nearly $2 trillion federal student loan portfolio.
However, such a drastic move as closing the department would likely take congressional action and getting Democrats to sign on board, and a 60-vote threshold could be a major hurdle for the initiative.
Contributing: Zachary Schermele, Mary Walrath-Holdridge, Chris Mueller, USA TODAY
Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected], and follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley.