How will Trump's orders on K-12 education, gender and DEI square with NY's policy?

USA Today

30-01-2025

One Executive Order, "Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling," focused on DEI and gender.
The second — "Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families" — aims to redirect federal funds to help parents send their children to private schools.
Two executive orders issued by the Trump administration on Jan. 29 seek to bring the president's promised change to education in three politically divisive areas: gender, DEI and school choice.
Some officials in New York were predictably concerned with Trump's push into schools, where decisions are generally made at the local and state levels. But the executive orders raised many questions yet to be answered, leaving it to cabinet members to figure out the details.
One executive order, "Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling," focused on DEI and gender.
The second, "Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families," aims to redirect federal funds to help parents send their children to private schools.
JP O'Hare, spokesman for the state Education Department, said the department is reviewing the executive orders, noting that the executive branch of the federal government lacks authority to "disregard acts of Congress."
"This review is informed by our belief that State and local control remains the bedrock of our nation's education system, and this principle will not be enhanced through federal curriculum mandates," O'Hare said. "We remain committed to ensuring that schools are safe, welcoming environments for all students, which is a bipartisan issue. We will continue to work with the Legislature and Governor to ensure that our schools remain devoted to truth, excellence, and free inquiry."
At stake: Federal aid and grants, which make up a much smaller part of school district budgets than local or state funds, but that are relied upon by many districts to improve education for students with disabilities and students from poverty.
"To know that some of those dollars could be affected, it could make things catastrophic," Yonkers Schools Superintendent Anibal Soler Jr. said. Yonkers schools are receiving about $38.1 million in federal aid and grants this year.
What did Trump's executive order on gender say about schools?
The Jan. 29 orders come on the heels of Trump's Day 1 executive order, 'Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,' that aimed at codifying traditional male-female definitions with "clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male."
The new order outlines restrictions on K-12 schools acknowledging transgender and nonbinary identities.
It is a wide departure from New York's education laws and guidance.
About 0.6% of the population is estimated to identify as transgender; estimations of intersex individuals in the U.S. vary from 0.018% to 1.7%, depending on criteria uses for people whose hormones, chromosomes, reproductive organs and/or sex anatomy are not aligned.
The Trump order asserts that actions that could be taken against K-12 teachers and schools that support 'social transition.'
'Social transition' includes using a 'gender identity' that differs from the person's identified sex at birth, from using a different name or pronoun; calling a child 'nonbinary'; or supporting the use bathrooms and locker rooms and sports team participation that differs from a child's identified sex at birth.
Federal funds could be in jeopardy if any school staff or teachers 'directly or indirectly support or subsidize the social transition of a minor student,' including 'deliberately concealing the minor's social transition from the minor's parents.'
But respecting and supporting a transitioning student is a hallmark of the state Education Department 2023 guidance, "Creating a Safe, Supportive, and Affirming for Transgender and Gender Affirming Students." That included the decision on whether to include parental figures. "Only the student knows whether it is safe to share their identity with caregivers," the guidance states.
The U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies are charged with developing an 'Ending Indoctrination' strategy within 90 days.
The executive order also directs the U.S. Attorney General to work with state attorneys general and local district attorneys in legal actions against teachers or school officials who are 'sexually exploiting minors' or 'unlawfully practicing medicine by offering diagnoses and treatment without the requisite license,' or 'otherwise unlawfully facilitating the social transition of a minor student.'
New York State Attorney General Letitia James' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump's executive order on DEI: Stop 'anti-American ideologies'
The development of "diversity, equity and inclusion" policies in America's schools became a cultural flashpoint during the early 2020s. Some states, including New York, pushed schools to identify and address traditional biases in everything from curriculum to library books to hiring practices. At the same time, states with conservative legislatures moved to restrict DEI efforts or the teaching of opponents called "critical race theory."
Trump's executive order insists that America's schools currently indoctrinate children in "radical, anti-American ideologies" without parental oversight and that "innocent children are compelled to adopt identities as either victims or oppressors solely based on their skin color and other immutable characteristics."
He's calling on the secretaries of education, defense and health and human services, working with the attorney general, to provide a plan within 90 days to eliminate federal funding or support for "discriminatory equity ideology."
In New York, the state's educational leadership, the Board of Regents and state Education Department, began a major push in 2021 for all school districts to create sweeping DEI policies. "For the first time, in my recollection, in public school history, there is a recognition that we haven't created a system that provided equitable opportunities for all young people," Lester Young, chancellor of the Board of Regents, told the Journal News/lohud then.
The state stopped short of requiring such policies, concerned that doing so could create a backlash. Regardless, many districts across the region, and the state, saw contentious debate about DEI at school board meetings.
A Journal News/lohud review in late 2021 found that about half of the 54 districts in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties had started to develop extensive DEI policies and plans. Areas addressed by many districts included: hiring practices, staff training, curricula and reading lists, community engagement, and school "climate."
"We value the strength of our diversity," Yonkers' Soler said.
The executive order also addressed "patriotic education." The order reupped the President's Advisory 1776 Commission, created during the first Trump presidential term, "to promote patriotic education" and promote the United States Semiquincentennial this July 4, with the U.S. marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
A major push to prioritize school choice
Trump's school-focused Jan. 29 executive order aims to free up federal funds to expand school choice programs and to push states to make federal dollars available for private schools.
It gives the Education Department 60 days to 'issue guidance regarding how States can use Federal formula funds to support K-12 educational choice initiatives.' It also directs the department to prioritize school choice when awarding discretionary grants.
"It's a little scary because if more (families) could choose private schools, it could be like the impact of charter schools on public education," Soler said, noting that Yonkers' graduation rate is over 90%. "We hope our families would trust us. And stay with us."
Like with the DEI order, the reaction to the school-choice order is likely to vary greatly among the states. In state with Republican-controlled legislatures, where efforts are already underway to drive public dollars to private schools, the executive order is likely to be well-received.
In New York, however, run by a Democratic governor and a strongly controlled Democratic Legislature that is close to teachers unions, school choice is not a priority and the executive order is likely to be fought.
The order also directs the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a plan for states receiving block grants for families and children to use that money for private institutions, including religious ones.