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President-elect Donald Trump hasn鈥檛 yet laid out a detailed plan for his administration鈥檚 education policy. But a review of his first term and his , as well as the details contained in the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, gives some indication of what might be coming in New York.

Trump, who has that the US last in education, has repeatedly vowed to eliminate the US Department of Education. 鈥淚鈥檓 dying to get back to do this,鈥� in September. Whether he succeeds will depend on whether he has congressional support.

Late Tuesday, Trump his pick for Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon, who oversaw the Small Business Administration during Trump鈥檚 first term and co-founded the WWE wrestling empire.

McMahon is the chair of the America First Policy Institute, which has assisted Trump鈥檚 transition team. The think tank鈥檚 policy proposals for education center on school choice, allowing parents to evaluate curriculum materials, teaching life skills like financial and digital literacy, and prohibiting the teaching of Critical Race Theory

While education advocates wait for Trump to take office, they are bracing for changes in how public education is administered.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 know yet what will happen,鈥� said Randi Levine, the policy director of Advocates for Children of New York, 鈥渂ut many of the policy proposals raised would be devastating for the students we serve.鈥�

Cuts to federal school funding

Regardless of whether the Department of Education closes, Trump can seek to limit federal aid to schools 鈥� something he repeatedly tried to do during his first term.

His administration proposed a number of cuts to the education budget, including appropriations for , which to help states and districts pay for teacher development and reduce class size; , which administers postsecondary federal student aid; and funding for and summer programs for low-income students. Congress these cuts.

This time, Trump鈥檚 allies have had more time to lay the groundwork for their proposals. The nearly 900-page , published by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, lays out ideas for downsizing and reshaping federal agencies 鈥� including the elimination of the Education Department. While Trump has sought to distance himself from the playbook, at least 140 people who worked within his first administration were involved in the project,

The Heritage Foundation that budget cuts would help transition control over education back to states and localities.

The federal government also pays for about 10 percent of the US Special Olympics budget, which the first Trump administration . Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos defended that move to , .

Michael Rebell, the executive director of the Center for Educational Equity, said he is skeptical that Congress will agree to shutter the Department of Education, since the agency is federally mandated to distribute funding to low-income schools and students with disabilities.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 easier said than done on the campaign trail, and whether Congress is going to go along with that is another question,鈥� Rebell said.

The proposed federal cuts are coming just as New York begins to , the formula used to distribute most state funding to public schools. Federal budget cuts would increase pressure on the state and local school districts to make up for any shortfalls.

Compared to the the state spends on school aid, federal funds account for a much smaller amount 鈥� $8.6 billion during the 2024 fiscal year, the Division of the Budget. For New York City, 5 percent of its budget, or $2 billion, comes from the federal government, according to the . An additional $1.5 billion goes toward the CUNY system and early childhood programs.

State education funding is a reliably heated battle during each budget cycle. Last year, Governor Kathy Hochul鈥檚 proposed cuts to education were roundly rejected by the state legislature. But many observers expect that she may try again.

Levine鈥檚 organization is calling for the new formula to create funding for homeless students, and increase it for students with disabilities and English Language Learners.

鈥淲e think this is a key moment for the state to commit to providing the resources necessary for all students to get the excellent education that they deserve,鈥� she said.

David Little, the executive director of the Rural Schools Association, pointed to the state education department鈥檚 current effort to as a program that will be harder for districts to implement if their budgets are cut.

鈥淭he only thing that can derail that is money,鈥� Little said. 鈥淚f the governor is in the process of trying to figure out how we alter state education aid 鈥� with an eye toward trying to ratchet that back 鈥� and the federal government is proposing to also diminish federal funding, then you immediately go into survival mode.鈥�

Trump has also pledged to withhold funds to schools that recognize transgender students or teach critical race theory, an academic framework that seeks to understand history and society through the lens of historical and systemic racism.

The deportation of newly arrived students

Trump, who has called immigrants 鈥渃riminals, drug dealers and rapists,鈥� has made tightening US immigration policy a signature part of his platform. ( between an increase in immigrant populations and a rise in crime.) He has promised the mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants living in the US, an effort that would be both .

The number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States grew by about 800,000 to 11 million between 2019 and 2022, according to the . That number peaked in 2007 at 12.2 million.

new immigrants and asylum seekers have entered New York State in the last two years, prompting school districts statewide to find ways to respond to the unexpected jump in student enrollment.

During the last Trump presidency, the New York City Department of Education to schools and families to protect students from federal immigration action.

鈥淲e certainly hope that the city will step up again and do all it can to protect immigrant students and families and keep their records confidential as well,鈥� Levine said.

A rollback of civil rights protections

Trump鈥檚 return also poses a risk to the Department of Education鈥檚 Office for Civil Rights, the arm of the agency responsible for investigating claims of discrimination at schools and universities
across the country.

That office handled last year 鈥� a record for the 44-year old department. In New York state alone, there are currently at elementary and secondary schools and another 207 at colleges and universities. The office is also tasked with collecting about access to education.

Under DeVos, the agency鈥檚 arm became more lenient, limiting the time and scope of investigations in an effort to clear a backlog of old cases, . DeVos also for transgender students issued under former President Barack Obama while expanding rights afforded to accused of campus sexual harassment and assault.

Project 2025 recommends moving the Office for Civil Rights under the Department of Justice and would require its actions against violators to take place through litigation, rather than administrative enforcement.

The plan also recommends the government rescind guidance issued during the Obama era that is meant to weed out racial discrimination toward students of color with disabilities.

Education advocates in blue states like New York can expect their state governments to take a more active role in civil rights enforcement, Rebell predicted.

鈥淭he more so-called progressive states will probably pick up at least some of the slack,鈥� Rebell said. 鈥淭he ones who are going to get clobbered are going to be the kids in states that are going to be happy to see civil rights enforcement go by the wayside.鈥�

School meals

Previously, Trump tried to tighten requirements around who qualified for free school lunches, which would have caused students to lose access to the program, according to an analysis by the US Department of Agriculture. He also sought to loosen Obama-era nutrition standards.

Project 2025 refers to the federal free lunch program as an 鈥渆ntitlement program鈥� that represents 鈥渁n example of the ever-expanding federal footprint in local school operations.鈥� The plan would do away with a provision that eases access to free meals in high-poverty areas and recommends cutting summer meals for students who are not enrolled in summer programs.

Throughout New York, 57 percent of students were eligible for the federal free or reduced-price lunch program during the 2022鈥�23 school year, slightly higher than the national average, .

A few cities 鈥� New York City, Albany, Rochester and Yonkers 鈥� have their own universal free school meal programs to help fill in gaps where the federal program does not cover all students. State legislators have successfully expanded access to free meals in other regions, but efforts to pass a statewide universal program .

New York City鈥檚 program, which receives , could face restrictions in the wake of budget cuts, according to the city comptroller.

A push for school choice incentives

Trump has championed charter and private schools, a win for school choice proponents in New York. for federal funding to go toward charter schools, voucher programs and tax credits for private school tuition, as a means to empower parents and give them educational options that better suit their children.

鈥淔or too long, countless American children have been trapped in failing government schools,鈥� he said in his 2020 State of the Union address.

A from the Stanford University Center for Research on Educational Outcomes found that charter schools have begun to outperform public schools. Critics say school choice is an effort to privatize schools and that charter schools are a on public school districts.

Though New York has , there is a statewide cap on the number of schools that can open. New York鈥檚 public education community is largely opposed to using public funding for private schools, noted Little of the Rural Schools Association.

鈥淭here might be proposals to make inroads,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut our governor and our legislative houses are so overwhelmingly Democratic that it would be really hard for them to try and advance a prospective agenda like that.鈥�

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Update 11/20: This story was updated to reflect the nomination of Linda McMahon to lead the Department of Education.

This story originally appeared in , a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. .

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