Few New York City schools have more at stake in President-elect Donald Trump鈥檚 second term than those in the Internationals Network for Public Schools.

The nonprofit network helps operate 17 public schools across the five boroughs that cater exclusively to newly arrived immigrant students, serving as a national model for educating newcomers.

Over two decades, the network has weathered shifting immigration patterns and policies and played a central role in educating many of the who have enrolled in city schools since summer 2022.

Now, as Trump lays the groundwork for a and state and local officials scramble to respond, the network is watching closely and making its own preparations.

and prohibit non-city law enforcement from entering school buildings except under specific circumstances, and city officials are training district superintendents, principals, and NYPD school safety agents on those protocols, people familiar with the plans said.

But fears and lingering questions remain pervasive.

Trump is likely to roll back a longstanding internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, policy against making arrests at 鈥渟ensitive locations鈥� like schools, , though it wasn鈥檛 immediately clear how that would affect the city鈥檚 local provisions restricting federal agents from schools. Mayor Eric Adams, who , told reporters after the meeting he鈥檚 looking into increasing the ability of local law enforcement to work with ICE to 鈥済o after those individuals who are repeatedly committing crimes in our city.鈥� Adams said 鈥渓aw-abiding鈥� immigrants should continue to use public services including education.

And even if immigration enforcement doesn鈥檛 take place at schools, the , who may face deportation cases themselves or see family members expelled from the country. The fear and uncertainty can also have their own corrosive effects by and exacerbating attendance and enrollment challenges, educators said.

New York City鈥檚 Education Department officials reiterated its commitment in recent weeks to keeping schools safe zones from immigration enforcement.

鈥淥ur schools are safe harbors for our children and they will remain so,鈥� Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said at a recent meeting of the Panel for Educational Policy.

Leaders at the Internationals Network are trying to address families鈥� concerns while reining in some of the waves of fear they see gripping their communities.

鈥淥ur job is to keep hope alive for these students,鈥� said Claire Sylvan, the founder and senior strategic director of the Internationals Network and a former teacher. 鈥淚鈥檓 not saying that things are going to be easy, but I鈥檓 saying that these are our children, and we are dedicated to ensuring that they are safe, welcome, and come to school.鈥�

Chalkbeat spoke to Sylvan and Lara Evangelista, the network鈥檚 director and a former international school principal and deputy superintendent, about how they鈥檙e approaching the coming years, lessons they鈥檝e learned, and what other educators can draw from their experiences.

The interview was edited for length and clarity.

Can you lay out what protections exist and some basics that schools and families should know?

Claire Sylvan: On the national level, there鈥檚 Plyler, which is a that says any student who鈥檚 eligible for K-12 education has a legal right to attend school at no cost, like any other resident.

There鈥檚 also, to date, protections around .

New York City Public Schools . They have already re-issued it with an incredibly strong email to all 1,600 principals. They followed up with training of superintendents. They鈥檝e been incredibly collaborative with us and other immigrant organizations in terms of thinking through, 鈥榃hat do you need to do on the ground?鈥� They鈥檙e not only training the school personnel but the school safety agents, who technically are supervised by the Police Department.

They鈥檝e been open to all of our conversations, and they鈥檙e providing contacts to schools in terms of community-based organizations. Our starting point is that schools need to be warm, welcoming, and supportive environments, and that鈥檚 still our priority, because that has to come first for students to learn. New York City has provided a framework that we can do that well within.

How do you balance being realistic about real concerns without overly causing fear that would keep people away from schools altogether?

Lara Evangelista: We鈥檙e realistic with families. We鈥檙e not hiding information. But we鈥檙e also sharing with them that there are policies that we will uphold that New York City has put in place to protect you.

Our community-based organizations support families with making sure their documents are in order, if they have something that鈥檚 expired, that they update it, that they understand what their rights are, that, if needed, they have accompaniment plans for their children if families are separated for some reason. We want to give them those tools to prepare them.

But we鈥檙e balancing, like you said. We don鈥檛 want to just feed into fear. We want to be realistic, but also continue to create supportive places for them. Because we want to take care of our young people emotionally. It鈥檚 how we鈥檝e been set up from the beginning, so we鈥檙e really leaning into that to support our students and our families through this.

How does talking about an 鈥榓ccompaniment plan鈥� go with families?

LE: One of my first cases when I was a principal was I had a young person call us and say, 鈥楳y parents were picked up selling clothes. What do I do? I have siblings.鈥橝nd so we learned then that we needed to make sure our families were prepared.

We don鈥檛 take that on ourselves, but through legal partnerships and so on, we run workshops and let families know that like this is something they should have in place so that if people are separated, if the major earners in the family are gone and the children are left, what happens?

How much of what you鈥檙e doing now, or what you鈥檝e done since the election, is standard procedure for you, and how much is different?

LE: We鈥檝e always done this. I was a principal a long time. And we had situations in the Obama administration where families were just deported, and we had to manage that.

We鈥檙e lucky in that we have relationships with partners that we can lean into for these kinds of supports. We鈥檝e always had legal screenings for families so that they can understand how to manage their paperwork. A legal organization will come and meet with families and students and, if they choose, can talk to them about their immigration situation.

CS: Some schools choose to do that on an open school night. You talk to your kid鈥檚 teacher, but you also go down the hall and have this conversation.

Can you talk about what you both saw during the first Trump administration and any lessons that you are taking from that and applying now?

LE: In the beginning, I remember some parents were afraid to come to a parent workshop, Open School Night, a parent teacher conference, because they were worried something would happen.

We had to really spend a lot of time communicating with families about our role, what the policies were, why they were going to be safe in our buildings, and really build relationships with families so that they did feel safe.

But I think the other thing was just how incredibly resilient our families and students were during that time. While we did have some students who dropped out or were discouraged, the vast majority of them, they just kept going. They were like, 鈥楲ook, I鈥檓 here. I have dreams. This is what I want for me and my family.鈥� They continued to pursue those dreams in spite of all that, so that was really inspiring for us as educators.

At this point, what is your biggest fear? And on the flip side, are there things that you鈥檙e doing now that you feel most hopeful about? What would you like to see happen that might ease some of those concerns?

CS: I can鈥檛 tell you how many individuals and people have approached us as an organization or our schools or our leaders and said: 鈥淗ow can we help?鈥� There is a community of people who care about our students.

LE: It鈥檚 really, really hard to predict what might happen. There鈥檚 a lot out there, and we don鈥檛 want to be in a situation where we鈥檙e just sharing all of this information that may or may not happen. We know what the situation is now, we know how to prepare from our work in the past, and that鈥檚 what we operate under. I don鈥檛 worry about students disappearing and not coming to school. There鈥檚 lots of rhetoric out there about what might happen in terms of deportation, but I try not to live in that space because our students do give us so much hope.

CS: I don鈥檛 have a crystal ball, but I know we have to keep our eye on the ball, and it鈥檚 going to move around the soccer field an awful lot.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at .

According to conducted for Fox News by , caregivers of children under the age of 18 favored Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of three percentage points in 2020. By comparison, Trump won the same group by four points over Kamala Harris 鈥� a seven-point swing in four years鈥� time. The electorate overall only moved six points rightward in the same period, meaning that parents have become warmer toward the former president than the rest of the country. ( was even more stark, indicating a nine-point Trump gain among mothers and a 20-point bounce among fathers.)

In a country where more than one-quarter of all voters are parents of school-aged kids, a shift of that scale moves millions of votes. And unlike over the last decade, it鈥檚 one that political observers have long seen coming.

Throughout the Biden administration, statistical evidence on the public鈥檚 attitudes toward K鈥�12 schools have carried ominous news for Democrats, who traditionally over Republicans on the issue of education. A 2022 conducted by Impact Research, a respected Democratic polling firm, was one of the first to find that parents in closely fought congressional districts trusted Republicans more when it came to running schools. 

Matt Hogan, a partner at Impact, said that the results were particularly striking given how well the Democratic brand has held up in other historic areas of strength. 

鈥淒emocrats still have significant advantages on health care and abortion and have largely maintained those advantages,鈥� Hogan said. 鈥淲hereas education is fairly unique in being an issue that Democrats traditionally won on, but have lost a good deal of ground recently.”

Those developments will leave Democratic leaders wondering not only what hurt their credibility with parents, but also whether the damage can be reversed anytime soon. 

Many among the party鈥檚 noisy coalition of professional operatives, interest groups, and activists acknowledge that the left some families furious with local Democratic officials, who tended to be more cautious about reopening during the pandemic. But for those memories to fade, they argued, they must be replaced with a more defined agenda for K鈥�12 policy, which has been largely impressionistic since the end of the Obama administration.

Jorge Elorza is the CEO of the advocacy group , which commissioned Impact鈥檚 survey work. In an interview, he said that while the GOP had responded to the public鈥檚 pandemic-era dissatisfaction with public education by launching a forceful drive for school choice, Democrats 鈥渉aven鈥檛 offered anything鈥� to strike a meaningful contrast.

鈥淎s a party, we’ve lost the language, the ideas, the policy, and the vision on education, and it needs to be entirely rebuilt,鈥� said Elorza, the former mayor of Providence, Rhode Island. 鈥淢ost Democrats would be very hard-pressed to answer the simple question of what is our party’s vision on education.”

The legacy of lockdowns

Sarah Sachen, a Chicago mother of four, said she鈥檇 been a 鈥渓ifelong Democrat鈥� before this November. But after the difficulties she faced putting her kids through school during the pandemic, she cast her first ballot for Donald Trump.

Sachen said the seeds of her decision were laid during the 2021鈥�22 school year. Having already struggled with the transition to online learning 鈥� her home鈥檚 electricity was spotty throughout parts of 2020, making it difficult for her children to use the Chromebooks provided to them by the school district 鈥� she was livid when the Chicago Teachers鈥� Union over safety protocols. Two of her children have Individualized Education Programs, making it nearly impossible for her to consider switching them to a private school, she said.

“It wasn’t fair to me that the Catholic school down my block was allowing kids to come and get their education while my kids, who have to be serviced by the system because they have special needs, were punished,鈥� remembered Sachen, whose involvement with Chicago Public Schools includes service on her .

COVID-era lockdowns presented a special challenge to the Democratic mayors who run most major American cities. Black and Hispanic families, much more so than their white and Asian counterparts, were to return to in-person schooling during 2020 and 2021; yet the educational and social-emotional disruptions posed by months spent in Zoom classrooms by students who were already struggling in school, further widening inequities in educational achievement.  

Sachen was already outraged with the length of the closures, the union for their resistance to reopening campuses. But she grew more animated last year, when the progressive Democrat and former CTU organizer Brandon Johnson won election as the city鈥檚 mayor. By this November, she said, she felt perfectly comfortable voting for Trump, whom she said she 鈥渉ated鈥� during his previous campaigns in 2016 and 2020.  

Not even Trump鈥檚 over their support for transgender healthcare access could sway Sachen, who has a transgender son. 

鈥淚 wasn’t scared to vote for him this time,鈥� Sachen said. 鈥淚 think it’ll be better for education and better all-around.” Many of her friends in the neighborhood of Garfield Ridge reached a similar calculation, and Trump lost consistently Democratic Illinois than any Republican nominee since the 1980s.

Michael Mikus, a Democratic political consultant based in western Pennsylvania, agreed that the challenge of educational leadership during a once-in-a-lifetime public health crisis had harmed his party鈥檚 brand. Swing voters in his home state, perennially one of America鈥檚 most decisive battlegrounds, too often thought of Democrats as being led by 鈥減eople who want to control your life.鈥�

“Democrats were often portrayed as not caring about what parents think,鈥� Mikus said, recalling the 2021 Virginia governor鈥檚 race, in which Republican Glenn Youngkin as a closing argument en route to an upset victory. 鈥淩ightly or wrongly, there was a segment of the electorate that may have considered voting for Democrats, but that sense just left a bad taste in their mouths.”

Returning to basic skills

Yet it remains unclear how the party might reclaim the initiative 鈥� or, indeed, how deep the reputational damage goes. 

Katie Paris is the founder of , a progressive advocacy group that specifically targets suburban women. Herself the mother of school-aged children, Paris said that while Trump鈥檚 election was a major disappointment, she was heartened by to establish school voucher-like programs across multiple states. The for state superintendent in North Carolina, offered more cause for optimism.

Green鈥檚 Republican opponent in the pivotal swing state, a longtime homeschool teacher who had referred to public schools as 鈥渋ndoctrination centers,鈥� is now in the Trump administration, though her future in state-level politics is murky.

Going forward, Paris argued, Democrats should speak directly to parents鈥� concerns about the academic and psychological deficits absorbed by students during the pandemic. Previous polling has revealed that K鈥�12 schools are on the wrong track, and a plurality believe that reading instruction in recent decades.

“I would like for the focus in public education to be on helping our kids recover from learning loss since COVID, which we鈥檙e still not talking about,鈥� Paris said, adding that Republicans would prefer to keep the spotlight on hot-button issues like the rights of LGBTQ students. 鈥淯nfortunately, the only people we heard talking about [schools] were those who wanted to tear them down and blame the trans community for their downfall.”

Impact鈥檚 Hogan agreed that the huge task of academic recovery was under-emphasized in Democrats鈥� campaign messaging. In focus groups, he said, when it came to providing resources for schools, including free lunch and after-school programs. But on the question of lifting achievement and bolstering student skills, a large number of respondents said that neither party had their support.

鈥淎bout a fifth of voters overall don’t trust either party to ensure school quality, and both parties are tied on that issue,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o for me, that’s a huge opportunity for Democrats to make gains.”

Since the end of the Obama administration, amid enervating fights over the Common Core academic standards and the rewriting of the No Child Left Behind Act, the party has mostly avoided staking out ambitious positions on K鈥�12 policy. In the absence of a set federal program, Democrats have gone their own ways, embracing the science of reading in some blue states while eliminating graduation requirements in others. 

Whatever direction they take, Mikus said, Democrats should take care to position themselves as the champions of families’ interests. 

“What we have to say is that the Democratic Party is on the side of parents and children. You can’t eliminate parents and parenting from the equation.”

Notable Trump surrogates Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, each promised seats on a proposed commission to eliminate government waste, the idea, while Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota to initiate a shutdown process before the new Congress was even seated.

Those moves are the first rumblings of a struggle that could last well into Trump鈥檚 second term, and possibly beyond. The drive to abolish the department hasn鈥檛 been this salient, or plausible, . Yet any effort to meaningfully reduce Washington鈥檚 role in funding and regulating America鈥檚 schools would face a swell of resistance, as transformative changes in politics . Several experts agreed that the combination of political and administrative hurdles is likely to prove so intractable that a more incremental approach, possibly focused on slashing the department鈥檚 workforce, may prevail instead.

Whatever course the administration adopts will, at least in part, depend upon the outlook of Linda McMahon, the president-elect鈥檚 nominee to serve as education secretary. Despite previously serving in the first Trump administration and leading the conservative America First Policy Institute, McMahon鈥檚 own views on K鈥�12 schools remain mostly opaque. In a statement announcing her nomination, that she would be charged with sending education governance 鈥渂ack to the states.鈥�

David Houston, a professor of education at George Mason University, said that Republicans had good reason to be cautious about taking decisive action against an entity whose functions 鈥� which largely consist of subsidies to both K鈥�12 and higher education, as well as civil rights enforcement and data collection 鈥� are little understood outside the capital.

鈥淧eople generally don’t have a precise understanding of what exactly the U.S. Department of Education does, but saying you鈥檒l get rid of it reads generically as being anti-education,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat strikes me as a very heavy albatross to hang around your neck come the midterms.”

Public opinion research appears to support Houston鈥檚 skepticism. When the polling organization YouGov in July asking voters their views on assorted proposals from the controversial Project 2025 policy document for Trump鈥檚 second term, respondents rejected the notion of unwinding the Department of Education by a 63-26 margin; their numbers were much smaller than those who said they would favor a ban on pornography or returning to the use of the gold standard. (In response to its unpopularity, Trump鈥檚 campaign Project 2025 at arm鈥檚 length.)

Still, perceptions of any government office can be moved. A showed that the percentage of Americans who viewed the department positively had fallen from 53 percent in 2018 to just 45 percent this summer, with 46 percent holding a negative view; in all, it was tied with the Justice Department as the second-least-popular federal agency polled, behind only the IRS. Meanwhile, a majority of respondents polled by CBS News about what Trump would do as president.

Chris Edwards, a tax and budget analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute who maintains of plans to shrink virtually every government department and major expenditure, said the Education Department stood out as a particularly viable target.

鈥淚t has only been around for 40 years, so people walking around today remember when there wasn’t one,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he patron saint of the Republican Party, Ronald Reagan, promised to eliminate it years ago. So if any agency is vulnerable to substantial cuts, I’d say it’s the one.” 鈥嬧��

鈥楢 decline in trust鈥�

In all likelihood, the department will be one of several facing some level of belt-tightening. Musk has said he wants to reduce government spending by , a figure that raised eyebrows inside of Washington and out. But regardless of whether succeeds in making a real dent in the budget, voters have indicated in recent years that they want to on a .

Martin West, an economist at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, agreed that Pew鈥檚 long-running surveys revealed that the Department of Education sat on the 鈥渓ow end of support鈥� among government bureaus. But drops in support over the last half-decade have occurred across the board, affecting even well-liked offices like the and the Centers for Disease Control. The swoon reflects an electorate that the country is on the wrong track, he added. 

鈥淭here’s been a decline in trust in large institutions generally, and I would interpret that change as a broader phenomenon rather than anything specific to education,鈥� said West. 鈥淏ut it does shift the lay of the land.鈥�

It鈥檚 impossible to say, however, where the ground will settle 鈥� particularly when any ambitious initiative led by Trump will very likely disturb it further. 

Political science research has long suggested that the political views of Americans tend to , moving in the opposite direction of the party in power. Hence, voters became more welcoming of immigration after Trump was first elected in 2016, after he was succeeded by Joe Biden. 

Similar patterns play out with respect to education. A study co-authored by Houston found that U.S. presidents every time they take a highly publicized stand on issues like standardized testing or school vouchers. Though few voters hold strong opinions on such questions, they quickly take cues based on their appraisal of the president; only in cases when the president鈥檚 position cut against the traditional views associated with his party 鈥� such as Barack Obama鈥檚 support for and 鈥� did his endorsement drive support for a given policy.

If Trump launches a substantive attack on the K鈥�12 bureaucracy, 鈥淚 would expect Republican support for eliminating the Department of Education to shoot through the roof, and Democratic opposition to do the same,鈥� Houston predicted. 鈥淚t’s an obviously polarizing dynamic because Trump is laying out a position that has always historically fallen within the Republican camp.”

鈥楨nough juice鈥�

The idea of abolishing the department already splits voters deeply. According to from earlier this year, 53 percent of Republicans were open to the proposal, compared with 28 percent of independents and just 8 percent of Democrats. 

The divide would probably open even wider if Republicans in Congress chose the simplest means of abolition and simply voted the agency out of existence. But that course, while direct, is uncertain: It would rely on the Senate majority鈥檚 ability to summon 60 votes in favor to overcome a sure Democratic filibuster. Most observers believe that to be an insurmountable obstacle. 

By contrast, a more plodding approach could be more achievable, while potentially veering further from the risk of publicity and voter outrage. A combination of legislation 鈥� permitted through the reconciliation process, which allows budgetary bills to pass with only 51 votes 鈥� and executive action could be used to distribute the department鈥檚 various responsibilities and resources to other cabinet offices. A future administration might, for example, see the Department of Justice deciding Title IX claims and the Department of the Interior presiding over schools on American Indian territory. 

Cato鈥檚 Edwards analogized the opportunity before Trump to the brief period in the 1990s when President Bill Clinton teamed with the GOP to . But that dramatic stroke, he argued, came only after the public discourse around cash benefits had played out in both parties. While the Republican Party first vowed to eliminate federal interventions in schools over 40 years ago, its plans have yet to make headway with the broader public. 

鈥淚t’s doable, but the president has got to make the argument for it,鈥� Edwards said. 鈥淲elfare reform happened in 1996 because conservatives and even centrists spent over a decade making a case about why traditional welfare was harmful and in need of reform. Whether Trump is up for doing something like that, we don’t know.”

Kevin Kosar, a senior fellow at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute who focuses on Congress and the federal bureaucracy, noted that government programs, once introduced, tend to be sticky. Even if big-ticket items like Title I aid for high-poverty schools and IDEA grants for students with special needs are devolved to states, or elsewhere within the federal government, it won鈥檛 necessarily diminish the prominence of government in K鈥�12 schooling.

鈥淕o ahead, abolish the Department of Education,鈥� Kosar said. 鈥淏ut if you scatter all of its programs to other departments, you’ve gotten rid of 4,100 people, and you have to hire people in other departments to process those grants and aid applications anyway. So how much juice are you getting from that?”

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.

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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�

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. .

But across the country, when it comes to education, voters rejected those policies loudly and firmly. As the founder of Red Wine & Blue, a community of over 600,000 diverse suburban women, I hear from women all the time who don鈥檛 want right-wing extremist groups coming into their school districts to impose their vision of so-called parents鈥� rights. The vast majority of moms believe in America’s public schools, want to work with their children’s teachers to make education better and are sick of a vocal minority wasting time and resources on culture war chaos. 

But I don鈥檛 just say this because it鈥檚 what I see in my group chats and hear in conversations at the bus stop. Of the common-sense candidates 鈥� those standing up to attacks on history lessons about race and age-appropriate sex ed 鈥� who were supported by my organization in school board races across the country, 69% won. And in some states, that figure is even higher: 78% of our 45 candidates won in 15 Michigan school districts, and 86% of our 14 candidates won in six Virginia districts 鈥� an especially gratifying result given that Virginia became ground zero for the uproar over so-called Critical Race Theory in 2021.

Meanwhile, in North Carolina, Mo Green, a Democrat and former superintendent of Guilford County Schools, won the statewide race for superintendent of public instruction over homeschooler Michele Morrow. Morrow was a Republican Moms for Liberty candidate who has described public schools as 鈥溾�� and urged people not to send their children to them; called for the ; and demanded military intervention to keep then-President Donald Trump in power on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump may have won the presidential race in North Carolina, but Morrow鈥檚 slogan, 鈥淢ake America鈥檚 Schools Great Again,鈥� clearly didn鈥檛 resonate with the majority of voters who want to build up their public schools, not tear them down.

It鈥檚 true that different parents and families have different values and concerns 鈥� and that’s okay. If there’s a book you don’t want your kids to read, then don鈥檛 let them read it. I believe in providing students with accurate, age-appropriate sex education, but I also believe in allowing parents to opt their kids out if they alone want to have those conversations. But I don’t think one parent should be able to take those opportunities away from everyone else’s kids. American public schools should be, at their core, places where all students should feel supported and safe. And while extremists have come in from outside communities to gain power, divide and control people, most voters want none of it. 

If you zoom out and examine other election results, you see similar trends. Republicans spent at least on political ads attacking the trans community 鈥� including trans children who attend public schools 鈥� on issues ranging from sports to health care. But there is no evidence that these ads swayed voters at the ballot box. In fact, an found that a majority of likely voters (including a plurality of Independents, by a 23-point margin) thought they were “meanspirited and out of hand.” Likewise, a of voters in eight Senate battleground states found that those who saw the ads found them “intensely off-putting” and that they failed to impact candidate support. 

In four states 鈥� including three that voted for Trump 鈥� voters rejected Republican priorities for education. Ballot measures to expand voucher programs, which shift money from public to private schools, failed in Colorado, Kentucky, Nebraska. In Florida (the home of Moms for Liberty), voters defeated a state constitutional amendment to make school board elections partisan.

MAGA politicians will ignore these rejections at their own peril. Many parents remain concerned about their students and the state of the public schools. And when I sit down and talk to them, we almost always realize that we have far more in common than what separates us. We don鈥檛 want a loud minority telling us how to raise our children. We don鈥檛 want books about Anne Frank or Martin Luther King Jr. to be banned. We certainly don鈥檛 want kids to be bullied just because of who they are. It’s time to tune out the claims of MAGA mandates and get to work with teachers and administrators for the good of all students.

WASHINGTON 鈥� During Donald Trump鈥檚 first term as president, he was reluctant to speak boldly about school choice.

That鈥檚 according to Kellyanne Conway, an aide to the president back then, and one of his former campaign managers. 鈥淗e would say 鈥楢ren鈥檛 we the ones who say it [education] is local? Why would the president of the United States bigfoot all that?鈥欌��

Expect that reticence to be a thing of the past, Conway told the audience  devoted to promoting the benefits of school choice 鈥� from  in the style of programs in West Virginia and Arizona to charter schools and . On the campaign trail, Trump already has been vocal about his embrace of parental choice. 鈥淲e want federal education dollars to follow the student, rather than propping up a bloated and radical bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.,鈥�  at a rally in Wisconsin last month.

(To be sure, Trump did  near the end of his first term offering states the opportunity to use federal money to create school choice programs. When I looked into it a few years ago, I couldn鈥檛 find any state that had taken him up on the offer.)

Conway urged participants at the post-Election Day gathering to speak a certain way in their advocacy to lawmakers going forward. 鈥淟ead with solutions not problems. The problems can be the second part of the sentence, or maybe the second paragraph.鈥� The panelists 鈥� including the founder of a group of charter schools for students with autism in Arizona, the leader of a private school for boys in Alabama and the head of a foundation that supports microschools 鈥� were all winners of , fueled by  and run by the Center for Education Reform.

She also urged the crowd not to make school choice about teachers unions, 鈥渨hich is fun to do, especially this week but it doesn鈥檛 educate another child.鈥� (The National Education Association, the nation鈥檚 largest labor union, generally has opposed private school vouchers and has been celebrating the . 鈥淭he decisive defeat of vouchers on the ballot across multiple states speaks loudly and clearly: The public knows vouchers harm students and does not want them in any form,鈥� NEA President Becky Pringle said in a statement.) 

Lawmakers who need convincing aren鈥檛 holding out just because of union pressure, Conway said. In Texas, for instance, rural lawmakers worried about the effect of vouchers on their schools  or torpedoed plans in that state that would allow parents to use public money for private school tuition. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott helped elect enough new members in place of those rural holdouts, however, that .

The school choice event at the Ronald Reagan Building in D.C. was notable for the range of people it featured, including parents and pastors, people who are white, Black and Latino, and several Democrats, including Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams of Pennsylvania. Some of the speakers told stories about opening their own charter schools and private schools. They urged the president-elect to take action on choice, including allowing  for children in low-income families to follow those kids to private schools or other settings outside public schools.

In Congress, with Republicans taking hold of the Senate and expected to retain control of the House, lawmakers already have proposed legislation that has, until now, mostly been a nonstarter. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who is likely to become chair of the committee that oversees education in his chamber, introduced  this session that would give families and corporations tax credits if they contribute to groups that give scholarships to students to attend private or parochial schools. It would target students whose families earn no more than 300 percent of the area median gross income. Cassidy鈥檚 wife, Laura, runs a charter school for children with dyslexia in Baton Rouge.

鈥淚 think that there鈥檚 going to be a real opportunity to promote innovation in school choice,鈥� Cassidy said. 鈥淭here is great promise in this administration, and I am looking forward to working with them.鈥�

This story about  was produced by , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for .

In most states, young people overwhelmingly supported pro-abortion ballot measures, even while voting for GOP President-elect Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, according to a new data analysis of young voters in the 2024 election.

Although young people listed the economy and jobs as the most important issue in the election, abortion came in at number two. This was particularly significant given that more than a dozen states had ballot measures related to protecting or codifying access to abortion rights,

In all states for which Tuft University鈥檚 , had reliable data, young voters ages 18-29 overwhelmingly voted in favor of these reproductive rights measures, even as they moved right from the 2020 election, voting for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris by much slimmer margins or 鈥� in Florida and Missouri 鈥� pulling the lever for Trump. 

In Florida, over half (52%) of young voters cast their ballot in favor of ending the state’s six-week abortion ban, despite voting for Trump by a 10-point margin.

Youth activist and chairman of the Jayden D鈥橭nofrio saw this play out live on Florida State University鈥檚 campus on the last day of early voting when he shuttled students to their polling place via golf cart. 

He said he heard from countless young Republicans who voted for Trump 鈥� whose Supreme Court nominees were largely responsible for overturning the constitutional right to an abortion 鈥� yet also supported Amendment 4. If the ballot measure had passed, it would have established a statewide constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability.

鈥淭he first two, three times, it’s like, 鈥極h, OK, that’s interesting. You’re voting for Republicans, but you’re voting yes on four,鈥欌�� he told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淎nd then after like the first three times, it was just like, 鈥極K, holy crap. You know, how many of you people are there?鈥� 鈥� 

He largely blames the state Democratic party for this disconnect, arguing they failed to message, motivate, or educate youth voters 鈥渙n where we stand on this issue and where Republicans stand on this issue, and as a result, [young Republicans] voted antithetical to their own beliefs.鈥� 

He added that this mismatch was particularly prominent among young people who told him Trump was pro-choice as well.

Harris garnered 43% of the overall vote in Florida, and the ballot measure received 57.2% of the vote. The amendment ultimately didn鈥檛 pass because it didn鈥檛 reach Florida鈥檚 60% threshold. Most states require a simple majority. 

This overwhelming support of pro-abortion rights ballot measures, despite a movement to the right generally in 2024, matches and previous , which found 53% of all young voters identify as pro-choice.

Ruby Belle Booth, a researcher at CIRCLE, said it鈥檚 further evidence of an emerging trend in which young conservatives and Republicans are consistently more liberal than older ones on a few key issues such as climate change and abortion.

鈥淲ith this more conservative electorate, it doesn鈥檛 mean that they鈥檙e more conservative on every single issue,鈥� she said.

Rhea Maniar, a Harvard University freshman and former chair of the said she wasn鈥檛 expecting the 鈥渕agic wand鈥� miracle鈥� of a Harris win in her home state, but she was cautiously optimistic about the ballot measure.

Ultimately, she was left disappointed by her party鈥檚 inability to hit the 60% mark and encouraged leaders to reevaluate their approach to the youth vote generally. 

鈥淭here has to be a reason why folks are willing to put Trump on the top of their ticket and then still vote for abortion,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I think Democrats are really going to need to take a hard, long look at what鈥檚 happening.鈥� 

The 鈥榝rat boy vote鈥�

Youth turnout this year (42%) was lower than the historic turnout in 2020 鈥� more similarly mirroring that of 2016 鈥� except in the battleground states, where it was much closer to the 50% mark. 

鈥淲hat the turnout in the battlegrounds really shows,鈥� said Booth, 鈥渋s that when young people are engaged in elections and when there鈥檚 a lot of investment in engaging young people in elections they learn to feel like they can make a difference. They feel like their voice matters and they have resources that young people in a lot of other states don鈥檛 have.鈥�

The young people who did turn out to vote were significantly more conservative. Young voters backed Harris overall by a mere 4 points (51% to 47%) but gravitated toward Trump compared to 2020, when they gave President Biden a much larger margin (+25). 

The youth electorate was more Republican than 2020 by 9 percentage points, whereas Democratic-identifying youth dropped by five points. It鈥檚 not yet clear if this indicates an ideological sea change among the youngest generation of voters or a shift in who turned out to vote, said Booth.

鈥淚t just goes to show that there鈥檚 so many different kinds of young people out there with so many different priorities,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd I think for a long time people just assumed that all young people were liberal voters and this election proved that that was not the case. And that鈥檚 something we鈥檝e been saying for a really long time 鈥� but I think not everybody has been listening.鈥�

One thing she believes is clear this early: young voters were driven by issues. Forty percent of young people chose the economy and jobs as their top issue, and those who did so were about 20 points more likely to vote for Trump. Abortion came in second place, followed by immigration in third 鈥� a shift from 2022 when immigration was ranked lower. 

This appears to be a driving factor in the movement toward Trump, who throughout his campaign and is now planning for . Young voters who listed immigration as their top issue supported Trump by a 70-point margin.聽

Early data suggests the migration overall is largely attributable to young men, who supported President Joe Biden over Trump by six points, but voted for Trump by a 14-point margin this time around. Among young white men, that margin ballooned to 28 points.

Black and Asian youth overwhelmingly voted for Harris over Trump by the largest margin 鈥� about 50 points 鈥� while young white voters favored Trump overall (54% to 44%).

The largest shift for any racial or ethnic group of youth between the 2020 and 2024 elections were Latinos, who favored Harris by a 20-point margin this year but went for Biden by a 49-point margin. Young Latino men were 14 points more likely to identify as Republican than they were four years ago, though they still were more likely overall to identify as Democrats.

Youth organizer D鈥橭nofrio, who identifies as 鈥渏ust as a regular, straight white dude who’s 19 years old in Florida,鈥� said he鈥檚 seen this dynamic play out among his male friends, the majority of whom are Republicans.

He said he鈥檚 started to notice that despite supporting some liberal issues 鈥� such as abortion rights 鈥� many of these young men have been of hyper-masculinity that 鈥渕akes them feel good,鈥� which Trump and the Republican party have successfully tapped into.

His peers see Trump going on conservative talk shows, like The Joe Rogan Experience, or engaging with Twitch streamers or billionaire businessmen like Elon Musk. Meanwhile Democrats, he said, are not meeting this demographic where they are, nor do they understand how to talk to them. 

Ultimately, he said, Democrats must recruit strong messengers, with relatable information that they get out on the platforms young men actually engage with.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the frat boy vote,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou know, embracing it is unfortunately the way to do it. But by embracing it, you can actively change their minds on it and show that we鈥檙e regular people [who aren鈥檛] trying to destroy or dilute their vote.鈥�

Correction: Young male voters favored President-elect Donald Trump by a 14-point margin this year. An earlier version of this story had that number at 28, which is the margin by which young white male voters favored Trump.

You can鈥檛 tell them the economy is great when they鈥檙e paying $4 for a dozen eggs.

You can鈥檛 tell them the job market is strong when they can鈥檛 find work.

And you can鈥檛 tell them their assigned public schools are delivering for their kids when they can plainly see outcomes that don鈥檛 align with those promises.

For years, families have been told that the one-size-fits-all public education system would prepare their children for the future. But more and more parents, particularly in historically underserved communities, are demanding options. They鈥檙e recognizing that choice empowers them to find the right educational fit for their child 鈥� a fit that meets individual needs, talents and goals and that鈥檚 responsive to their cultural values and expectations.

As election results poured in last week, NBC political commentator Chuck Todd specifically for record Republican gains among Latino voters.

These families 鈥� like all families 鈥� want a voice in their children鈥檚 education. They want to feel their tax dollars are funding schools that prioritize quality and accountability. In a diverse state like Florida, and in states across the nation, parents from every background are expressing this desire for choice.

School choice opponents have somehow convinced themselves that its purpose is to undermine the traditional public school system.

Trust me, that was the furthest thing from my mind when I set out to reform Florida鈥檚 education system as a first-term governor 25 years ago.

We wanted to make sure families had options if they needed them. No parent should be forced to keep their child in a school that isn鈥檛 serving them well. School choice is about opening doors, not closing them. It鈥檚 about opportunity, accountability and the recognition that one model doesn鈥檛 work for every student. It鈥檚 about a rising tide of achievement that lifts all boats. 

And we didn鈥檛 just focus on school choice: We implemented a strong school system and early literacy reforms that propelled Florida鈥檚 schools forward. While other states debated reforms, we took action to ensure students would gain essential skills in reading, setting them up for lifelong learning success. Today, these reforms serve as a model for other states.

As school choice has become more accessible, Florida’s public schools also have improved. Greater competition has raised the bar across the board, proving that giving families choices strengthens 鈥� not weakens 鈥� the educational system.

According to a recent by the American Enterprise Institute, Florida is 鈥渢he single best state in which to be a low-income public school student.鈥�

Florida also recently was the third-most diverse state in the nation, with 1 out of 5 residents born in a foreign country and only 36% born in the state. Diversity is our strength, and our education policies reflect our commitment to each child, regardless of their background or zip code.

We鈥檝e built an education landscape for everyone because we believe everyone deserves access to quality schools. School choice doesn鈥檛 divide communities; it strengthens them by respecting families’ unique needs and aspirations for their children. This movement isn鈥檛 about ideology. It鈥檚 about progress and ensuring that all children, in every neighborhood, have access to an education that meets their needs.

Policymakers should take the lessons from this election and recognize that families are sending a clear message: They want the freedom to choose an education that works for their child. 

For those who continue to stand against school choice, it鈥檚 time to listen. Families have rejected one-size-fits-all solutions, and they don鈥檛 want you to tell them what you think is best for them. They want the opportunity to find the right educational path for their kids, and it鈥檚 up to policymakers to continue to break down barriers that stand in their way. 

Charter-backed upstart failed in the Nov. 5 elections to unseat , the longtime LAUSD educator and policymaker who won the election and will begin his third and final term on the LA Unified board in January. 

Chang conceded in a message to supporters that he wasn鈥檛 going to be able to overcome 厂肠丑尘别谤别濒蝉辞苍鈥檚 4 percentage point lead. 

Chang, a math teacher at James Madison Middle School in North Hollywood, who previously helped found charter schools in LA, trailed behind Schmerelson with 48% of the vote, while Schmerelson garnered  52%.

The contest between the two men had the potential to tip the district鈥檚 school board away from a 4-3 majority of union-backed members, and impact the board鈥檚 handling of several facing LAUSD, including restrictions on charter schools鈥� use of buildings, which Chang said he鈥檇 move to reverse if elected. 

victory is part of a successful election season for many teachers . 

The outspoken former teacher and principal has sided closely with local unions on issues of space and resources for charter schools. His win could mean more headwinds for the nation鈥檚 largest charter school sector here moving forward. 

厂肠丑尘别谤别濒蝉辞苍鈥檚 campaign didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment.

Two other LA Unified school board races being decided by voters this year were not as close.

For District 1 in South LA, board admin defeated with 71% of the vote, versus 29% for Al-Alim, whom the in the primary over anti-semitic social media. 

For LAUSD Board District 5, which covers parts of Northeast and Southeast LA, union-backed led with 61% of the vote, versus 39% held by Ortiz.

Meanwhile, a majority of LA voters voiced their approval of a to repair and upgrade aging school buildings. 

As of Friday, voters cast 68% of ballots in favor of , which was backed by members of the LAUSD board, district superintendent Alberto Carvalho, the teachers union and local construction groups.  

Measure US would be LAUSD鈥檚 largest ever school facilities bond, and would be paid for with property tax increases. It requires a 55% majority in order to pass. 

The Los Angeles County Clerk is still counting votes and is providing daily. 

As of Friday the clerk had recorded more than 3.7 million votes in all the elections held November 5, with roughly 35% of eligible voters still uncounted.

When Donald Trump told Elon Musk one of his first acts as president would be to 鈥渃lose the Department of Education, move education back to the states,鈥� he was invoking a GOP promise that goes back to President Ronald Reagan and the department鈥檚 founding.

Yet through multiple Republican administrations, including Trump鈥檚 first term, the U.S. Department of Education has persisted.

That hasn鈥檛 stopped Democrats from sounding the alarm that Trump鈥檚 views epitomize the GOP鈥檚 bad intentions for public schools. The fact that the Republican Party鈥檚 platform , as does the , has only .

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鈥淲e are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our public schools,鈥� Vice President Kamala Harris said to thunderous applause in her speech at the Democratic National Convention, where she placed the department alongside prized institutions and programs like Social Security, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act.

The department has become a 鈥渒ind of trophy鈥� in a larger debate about the meaning of public education, said Rick Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

In fact, he said, 鈥淭he Department of Education actually has very little to do with that debate. Abolishing it doesn鈥檛 advance school choice and keeping it doesn鈥檛 do much for traditional district schools. But it鈥檚 become a symbol of which side you鈥檙e on in that debate.鈥�

So, what exactly does the U.S. Department of Education do? Why do so many conservatives want to see it go away? Why has it survived? And what would it take for that to actually happen?

The U.S. Department of Education: a brief history

The federal government spent money on education and developed education policies . But the U.S. Department of Education didn鈥檛 become a stand-alone agency until 1980, when it split off from the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

President Jimmy Carter advocated for the creation of the department to fulfill a campaign promise to the National Education Association. Congress passed the Department of Education Organization Act in 1979. Some Democrats and the American Federation of Teachers opposed the idea, due to fears about and concerns that it would cater to the NEA鈥檚 interests.

Reagan, Carter鈥檚 successor, campaigned on abolishing the brand-new department. But Reagan鈥檚 first education secretary, Terrel Bell, commissioned the landmark report 鈥淎 Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform,鈥� warning that America was losing its competitive edge. It advocated for a strong federal role to ensure students received a high-quality education.

鈥淚f the federal government is coming out with a report that shows all the things that need to be fixed and at the same time, we鈥檙e backing out of it, those are not compatible positions,鈥� said Michael Feuer, dean of George Washington University鈥檚 Graduate School of Education and Human Development.

The U.S. Department of Education does a lot of things, and . Its biggest K-12 programs by dollar amount . Some of its most high-profile and controversial work involves enforcing civil rights protections. The department also plays a major role in distributing financial aid for higher education.

The department is . Before the infusion of pandemic relief dollars, the federal government only covered about 8% of K-12 educational costs. In recent years, it鈥檚 been closer to 11%. But isn鈥檛 necessarily easy.

Why do conservatives want to end the Department of Education?

Some of the dislike is purely ideological.

For conservatives, less government is better. Education is not mentioned directly in the U.S. Constitution. And a new department overseeing functions that remain mostly the purview of local government is low-hanging fruit.

Under Democratic administrations, the department has also sided with more progressive approaches to education and to civil rights enforcement.

The Obama administration, for example, told schools that if they suspended or expelled Black students at much higher rates than other groups, that could be a sign they were . Critics said the rules pushed schools to adopt laxer disciplinary policies that made schools less safe. . (The Biden administration has not reinstated them.)

More recently, the Biden administration issued Title IX rules that provide greater and more explicit protections for LGBTQ students 鈥� .

Jonathan Butcher, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said states have been a source of innovation, like charter schools and educational savings accounts. The federal department not only distracts states from efforts to improve education but creates unnecessary bureaucracy.

All the while, achievement gaps based on race and poverty haven鈥檛 gone away, Butcher noted, though .

鈥淲e have ample evidence that it is not serving its purpose,鈥� Butcher said of the department. Abolishing it, he added, is 鈥渃onsistent with both the interest in smaller government and the interest in doing what鈥檚 right for kids.鈥�

What does Trump say about abolishing the Department of Education?

In his , the social media platform previously known as Twitter, Trump said the U.S. had a 鈥渉orrible鈥� education ranking at the bottom of developed countries while spending the most.

It鈥檚 not totally clear what sources Trump was using. On , the U.S. ranked sixth in reading, 10th in science, and 26th in math among 81 countries. show , especially . The U.S. does spend , including many that score better on key measures.

Trump said some states won鈥檛 do well, but many would do a better job on their own while spending less money.

鈥淥f the 50, I would bet that 35 would do great, and 15 of them or 20 of them would be as good as Norway,鈥� Trump told Musk. 鈥淵ou know Norway is considered great.鈥�

He said the federal government could provide 鈥渁 little monitor. You want to make sure they are teaching English, as an example. Give us a little English, right?鈥�

Trump鈥檚 campaign did not respond to a request to elaborate on the candidate鈥檚 plans.

How would abolishing the Department of Education work?

Abolishing a federal department would require an act of Congress, just as creating one does. It likely would also , which the idea doesn鈥檛 have.

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, has to abolish the department 鈥� but the bill has failed to gain traction.

Despite that, Massie said his proposals were serious. 鈥淒amn right I want to terminate the Department of Education,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淧ublic education in America has gone downhill ever since this bureaucracy was created.鈥�

The Heritage Foundation鈥檚 Project 2025, widely seen as a blueprint for a future Trump administration 鈥� 鈥� lays out a much more detailed plan that considers necessary steps from Congress and the executive branch.

For example, the plan says civil rights enforcement should move to the Department of Justice, educational data collection to the U.S. Census Bureau, and support for Native American students to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Butcher acknowledged that BIA schools don鈥檛 have a good track record. But he argued that the agency was better positioned to work on improving educational outcomes.

Meanwhile, Project 2025 says Title I funding for high-poverty schools should be turned into vouchers and then phased out over time, while money from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act should be given directly to parents.

On a podcast earlier this year, Lindsey Burke, the Heritage Foundation鈥檚 director of the Center for Education Policy and author of Project 2025鈥檚 education chapter, of simply abolishing the department.

But she said the executive branch could take certain actions on its own, such as ending student loan forgiveness programs and not enforcing the new Title IX rules.

Ending the Education Department now 鈥榩art of the conversation鈥�

Hess, of the American Enterprise Institute, said he doesn鈥檛 oppose eliminating the department, but the idea has become a kind of 鈥渂oogie man or quick fix鈥� that鈥檚 become a on the federal role in education.

鈥淪o much of the culture war that reached a boil during the pandemic focused on schools and colleges, which made the department more contested terrain and made education more contested terrain,鈥� he said.

He鈥檚 skeptical that a future Trump administration would get any closer to eliminating the department than the first one did. And a could make it even harder to make dramatic changes via executive order, Hess said.

Feuer, of George Washington University, thinks the department has made positive contributions, despite some flaws, and wants to see it stick around. An unfriendly administration could dramatically cut funding or eliminate programs without eliminating the department. That鈥檚 the wrong debate to have when , he said.

鈥淚f we now take this really important moment and get everyone fighting about maintaining the department, instead of keeping our eyes on the kids and the teachers and doing some good work, that would be a really unfortunate distraction,鈥� he said.

Butcher acknowledged that it鈥檚 鈥渁 big, ambitious idea,鈥� but said it鈥檚 also a serious one. Past efforts, he said, lacked willpower and an advocate who prioritized it.

He was encouraged when every candidate in Republican presidential primary debates last year (except Trump, who did not participate) said they .

鈥淲e have made it a part of the conversation,鈥� Butcher said.

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鈥淭his is the most conservative legislature in history. We will continue to deliver a conservative agenda that will protect liberty and promote prosperity,鈥� Senate President wrote on X. 鈥淲ith our expanded majority we will make sure our communities are safe and that our kids have the best educational opportunities possible.鈥�

The swing state鈥檚 legislative prospects garnered the and a flood of campaign spending, with nearly being spent to elect lawmakers across both parties in 13 races. Democrats focused most energy in five close races in suburban Tucson and Phoenix that could have shifted the Republicans鈥� previous two-vote majorities. 

Now with the control of both houses, the Republican party can act on their promise to grow the Empowerment Scholarship voucher program, which sends tax dollars to private schools and reimburses families for homeschooling expenses. 

Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs has ESA growth, stating when she took office it 鈥渨ould likely bankrupt the state.鈥� Arizona is considered an unofficial beacon for school choice, the first in the nation to offer families anything resembling a voucher in 2011.

The ESA program, expanded to all families under Republican leadership past its original design to support kids with disabilities or in underperforming schools, was last year. 

The state鈥檚 schools chief has said it鈥檚 impossible to credit the program, which most recently cost the state about $718 million to support 78,000 students, as causing deficits in the state budget, pointing to an overall surplus in the Department of Education because of declines in projected charter spending. 

Whether or not the state鈥檚 budget will be further strained by Republicans鈥� legislative agenda to expand the program, in its current iteration, it鈥檚 also been criticized for lack of accountability. Parents were able, for example, to reimburse $800 driving lessons in luxury vehicles, golf merchandise, and visits to . 

鈥淲hile you may think this may not be a good use of that family’s ESA funding, at the end of the day, they get a fixed amount of money, and if that’s how they’re going to choose to use it, that’s their prerogative,鈥� ESA director John Ward . 

Today, the nearly 80,000 families enrolled in the program receive about $7,500 for their childrens鈥� educational expenses. According to the , the vast majority of funding went to schools that specialize in serving kids with disabilities, particularly autism, and private, religious schools. 

Roughly are students with disabilities, a higher proportion than the average in traditional public schools statewide. 

A revealed low-income families are using the program far less frequently than families in wealthier enclaves. For families living in poverty, the location of private schools and financial responsibility of taking on additional transportation, research, and meals costs makes 鈥渟chool choice鈥� an unrealized promise. 

Incumbents Tom McMillin and Nikki Snyder held onto their seats on the Michigan Board of Education in Tuesday鈥檚 election. They are the only Republican members of the board.

It was another good down-ballot result for Michigan Republicans, who rode to flip the state House and almost every seat on the boards of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and the Wayne State University.

McMillin and Snyder defeated Democratic challengers Theodore Jones and former state Rep. Adam Zemke for seats on Michigan鈥檚 Board of Education and will serve eight-year terms on the board that is tasked with overseeing the educational system across the state and recommending changes to lawmakers.

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Snyder has served a single term on the board. She is a former nurse who has previously had unsuccessful runs for U.S. Senate and Congress. She the Michigan Advance along the campaign trail that she is focused on school safety, improving literacy in schools and providing eligible students with appropriate special education resources.

Snyder received the most votes of any education board candidate at nearly 2.5 million votes or 24.48% of the vote, according to unofficial election results.

McMillin also has served one term on the Michigan Board of Education, having been elected alongside fellow incumbent Snyder in 2016. Previously, McMillin served as a state legislator representing Oakland County and has served in local government and as an Oakland County Commissioner, among other roles.

McMillin secured about 24% of the vote, beating out Democratic challengers by more than 60,000 votes apiece.

Jones is a former teacher, school social worker and has worked in administration for Detroit public schools. His campaign centered around increasing investments into Michigan schools to help students recover from learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to allocate resources to retain good teachers.

Zemke, was previously a state lawmaker representing Ann Arbor who served on education-related committees. He has been a part of education-focused groups like the and was previously the president of . He the Michigan Advance during his campaign that he鈥檇 like to better bridge the board with lawmakers and other stakeholders and implement meaningful change while serving on the board.

Join 蜜桃影视 and the Progressive Policy Institute for a special conversation about the ways in which community service programs and school curriculum and practices can help strengthen social cohesion among students of different backgrounds. 鈥淭eaching Common Democratic Values in a Divided America鈥� will stream Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Joining moderator Tressa Pankovits from PPI will be American Exchange Project Co-Founder and CEO David McCullough III, Maryland Secretary of Service and Civic Innovation Paul Monteiro, American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Robert Pondiscio and Richard Kahlenberg, director of PPI鈥檚 American Identity Project. 

Sign up for the Zoom or tune in to this page at 2 p.m. ET to stream the event.

Explore more civics education topics from 蜜桃影视: 

• It鈥檚 Time for a Ceasefire in the Civics Wars

• Opinion: Teachers in All Subjects Must Help Prepare the Next Generation of Voters

• 5 Lessons From Civics in How to Achieve Agreement Across the Political Divide

• There is Agreement on Civics Education 鈥� If You Know Where to Look

• How Texas Lawmakers Gutted Civics

鈥淒oomed.鈥� 鈥淏affled.鈥� 鈥淪cared.鈥� 鈥淗appy.鈥� 鈥淚 don鈥檛 care.鈥� 鈥淲e are so cooked.鈥�

Those were the reactions to the presidential election result that students scrawled on a white board Wednesday morning inside Joshua Ferguson鈥檚 11th grade government class at Ypsilanti Community High School in Michigan.

Before he knew that former President Donald Trump had won a second term, Ferguson thought he would do a lesson on disinformation in politics. Instead, he gave students room to talk. The most important piece of this lesson, he said, was for his students to feel safe and heard.

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鈥淚 think that鈥檚 my job as a teacher,鈥� he said.

Educators across the country awakened Wednesday to the , then headed into school buildings where students were feeling everything from elation to shock to despair. Some had carefully scripted lesson plans at the ready. Others, like Ferguson, scrapped what they prepared and simply listened.

For civics and social studies teachers who had been monitoring the 2024 presidential election, Wednesday presented both a pedagogical challenge 鈥� and opportunity. Chalkbeat reporters fanned out to schools across the country to see how teachers approached this monumental day.

This story was reported by Caroline Bauman, Gabrielle Birkner, Hannah Dellinger, Jessie Gomez, Dale Mezzacappa, Amelia Pak-Harvey, Carly Sitrin, and Alex Zimmerman.

鈥榃hy do people keep voting for Trump?鈥�

Ahead of his 7:30 a.m. social studies class Wednesday, teacher John Winters had prepared a worksheet to spur conversation.

鈥淎s you know, [fill in the blank] has been elected as the next U.S. President,鈥� the sheet read. 鈥淧lease share your thoughts, feelings, concerns, questions, etc.鈥�

His students at Philadelphia鈥檚 Murrell Dobbins Career & Technical Education High School didn鈥檛 need much prompting.

鈥淗e IS a convicted felon and should鈥檝e never been allowed to run ever again,鈥� wrote one student.

People 鈥渄on鈥檛 want to see a girl/woman be the president,鈥� wrote another.

鈥淲hy do people keep voting for Trump? Especially people that he doesn鈥檛 even like and is racist towards?鈥� still another wrote.

The responses conveyed dismay and fear among some at the 800-student technical school, which is 89% Black and located in the city鈥檚 lowest income ZIP code.

At the end of the class, one junior held back to talk to Winters. Anxiety, even fear, was written all over his face as he struggled for words.

He asked a series of questions, like how many bills a president could pass and how an impeached president could be elected again. Winters answered but sensed there was something larger the boy wanted to know.

鈥淚 was born here, but I鈥檓 scared for my parents,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e from Haiti. It鈥檚 bad there right now.鈥�

Winters reminded him that strongly Democratic Philadelphia has been a sanctuary city, meaning it doesn鈥檛 always cooperate with the federal government in enforcing immigration law. He told the young man to clarify with his parents their status. But then, reluctantly, he added: 鈥淚 can鈥檛 lie, it鈥檚 a concerning situation.鈥�

The boy put his head down, and slowly walked to his next class.

A rightward shift, especially among boys

At The Global Learning Collaborative, a high school situated in the deep-blue Upper West Side of Manhattan, students reacted to Trump鈥檚 victory with a mix of fear, ambivalence 鈥� and support.

More than 70% of the school鈥檚 students are Latino, and many expressed alarm over Trump鈥檚 anti-immigrant rhetoric. But there was still a sizable number of students who supported the Republican candidate during a mock election held during a Wednesday morning assembly: 136 students voted for Vice President Kamala Harris, while 70 supported Trump.

Junior Alix Torres said she has undocumented relatives and worries about his promise to .

鈥淚 woke up kind of angry this morning,鈥� Torres said, noting that she helped persuade some family members to vote for Harris. 鈥淚 hope he hears the public and chooses to not go through with that. We built this country.鈥�

Others at The Global Learning Collaborative said they supported Trump or didn鈥檛 have a firm opinion of him; nearly all were under 10 years old during his first presidency.

Senior Sara Otero, who is 18, voted for the first time on Tuesday, casting a ballot for the former president. A devout Christian, Otero said she believed Trump would preserve religious liberty, though she hadn鈥檛 followed the election closely.

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 as educated as I wish I was on the whole thing,鈥� she said.

Harris decisively won New York City, but . Civics teacher Martin Gloster said he has seen a rightward shift in political attitudes in his classroom.

鈥淚 think teenage boys are really attracted to that strongman presence,鈥� he said.

Gloster said he has struggled with teaching contemporary politics, including the presidential debate in which Trump Haitian immigrants were eating cats and dogs. In a class that discussed the debate, one student had faced an arduous journey emigrating from Guatemala, while others were more sympathetic to Trump.

鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult because obviously I play it down the middle 鈥� Trump is just a different thing,鈥� Gloster said. 鈥淚鈥檓 learning on the fly. I don鈥檛 have all the answers.鈥�

Taking lessons from Gore鈥檚 2000 concession speech

When Reid Stuart arrived for his first class on Wednesday, he had three goals for students: Give space to process this huge political moment, impart tools to 鈥� and watch Al Gore鈥檚 concession speech from 2000.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an incredible speech, by a Tennessean, after a tense moment that calls for unity,鈥� said Stuart, who teaches at Crosstown High School, a diverse public charter school in Memphis, Tennessee. 鈥淚t feels relevant.鈥�

His students in AP Human Geography settled into class, some joking with each other about the election and others speaking somberly.

Before watching , Stuart asked: What did his students expect from a conceding presidential candidate?

鈥淭o show respect to the other candidate.鈥� 鈥淭o show respect for the system.鈥� 鈥淭o actually concede,鈥� students chimed in.

Stuart then asked, 鈥淚f you are Al Gore, how are you feeling?鈥�

鈥淐heated.鈥� 鈥淢ad.鈥� 鈥淯naccepting of loss.鈥� 鈥淏itter.鈥�

Gore, a Democrat, gave his speech more than a month after the 2000 Election Day and after .

Stuart asked his students what they thought of Gore鈥檚 delivery and message.

鈥淚 think he was being sarcastic,鈥� said one student. 鈥淟ike you could tell he didn鈥檛 really believe what he was saying, and felt like he should have won, but he still called for unity and respect.鈥�

As other students in the room nodded in agreement, Stuart said: 鈥淭his is a hallmark of a free and fair election, that the person who lost, can get up there and offer a unifying message, even if he is bitter. Right?鈥�

He noted that later Wednesday. 鈥淚 encourage you to watch it,鈥� he told students. 鈥淪ee if she has the same message of unification and moving forward, even though you can guarantee she is feeling deeply about the loss.鈥�

An election that turned on grocery prices and utility bills

Philadelphia social studies teacher Charlie McGeehan prepared for every election outcome 鈥� but, he admitted to his students Wednesday morning, 鈥渢his is not what I expected.鈥�

When he went to bed Tuesday night before midnight, McGeehan had anticipated explaining to the juniors and seniors in his classes about how long vote counting can take. About how we might not know the outcome of the election for several days. About the role deep-blue Philadelphia would play in deciding the election.

By the time he woke on Wednesday, that plan was moot. So, he figured, let鈥檚 just give the students 鈥� many of whom had spent long hours working the polls the day prior 鈥� space to decompress.

Together, they combed through the election results guided by students鈥� questions like 鈥淗ow was the polling yesterday so surprising?鈥� 鈥淲hich state did the race ultimately come down to?鈥� and 鈥淒oes Kamala Harris have any path to winning at all?鈥�

To that last question, McGeehan was straightforward: 鈥淣o, she doesn鈥檛.鈥�

Many of McGeehan鈥檚 students at the Academy at Palumbo are first- or second-generation Americans or immigrants. On notecards, students laid out their more personal fears, ones they didn鈥檛 necessarily want to share with the class.

鈥淎s a woman and a child of an immigrant, I鈥檓 honestly scared鈥� read one. 鈥淚 saw a post saying how Trump pledged to launch mass deportation鈥� which makes me feel like not researching more because of how much more sick stuff I might read,鈥� said another.

One said 鈥淚 feel great because Trump鈥檚 [positions] align with what I want. Especially with the issues of censorship, grocery prices, and utility bills.鈥�

鈥楰ind of a very depressing day鈥�

Nehemiah Legrand tried to eat dinner Tuesday but couldn鈥檛 finish. She was glued to her phone. She was up until 3 a.m.

The 13-year-old student at Enlace Academy, a pre-K-8 school in the International Marketplace area of Indianapolis, is an American citizen by birth whose parents are legally living in the country. The family fled Haiti after her older brother was kidnapped in 2020 amid the country鈥檚 political turmoil.

Still, Trump鈥檚 campaign rhetoric around immigration scared Nehemiah 鈥� and made her fear that her family would be deported.

鈥淚 just feel like today 鈥� it doesn鈥檛 feel normal,鈥� she said, sitting in the school鈥檚 hallway on Wednesday, looking out the window at the rain. 鈥淧eople are not talkative or none of that. It鈥檚 very, very strange. It鈥檚 kind of a very depressing day. Because everyone just doesn鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen next, and you can tell everyone is stressed.鈥�

The presidential election has over her and her classmates at the school, where many students come from Latin America and Haiti. At this school, students have to grow up fast. Many carry trauma from their immigration to the United States, said lead social worker Hailey Butchart.

Now, students like Nehemiah are preparing for what the next four years with Trump 鈥� whose platform includes deploying 鈥渢he largest deportation operation in American history鈥� 鈥� will mean for them.

鈥淎 lot of the students I speak with have had a family member that has been deported, and they live with that fear as well,鈥� Butchart said.

The power of social media in elections

On the morning after Election Day, Zy鈥橝sia Weathers rolled over in bed to grab her phone on a nearby nightstand and scrolled through TikTok.

But instead of seeing videos of makeup reviews or the latest trends, Zy鈥橝sia鈥檚 feed was filled with women and girls crying about the outcome of Tuesday鈥檚 election and the potential impact on female reproductive rights.

鈥淧eople were even saying, like, very vague things, like, just thinking the worst of the worst,鈥� added Zy鈥橝sia, 17, a senior at KIPP Newark Collegiate Academy.

Throughout the school day Wednesday, Zy鈥橝sia and her peers talked about other videos they saw, like people celebrating former president Donald Trump鈥檚 reelection and others questioning what his victory would mean for the nation.

Zy鈥橝sia is also the president of her school鈥檚 Student Government Association, and on Wednesday, the group met to discuss the presidential outcomes. Yanibel Feliz, the advisor of the group, walked students through an exercise to discuss the election process, the outcome, and the effect of social media.

Some students said they were shocked about Trump鈥檚 victory because they had seen much support for Harris on social media.

鈥淪ometimes, social media might paint a picture of how elections will go,鈥� said Trinity Douglas, a junior at the school, during class. 鈥淏ut it has a big effect on our generation.鈥�

鈥業鈥檓 afraid what will happen to my family鈥�

The icebreaker in Joel Snyder鈥檚 government classes on Wednesday was to respond to the prompt: 鈥淚 am feeling 鈥� because 鈥︹��

The responses were wide-ranging and included students who were enthusiastic about the election outcome and those who were disappointed the U.S. would not, after all, elect a woman as president.

In the few minutes they were given, students took pencil to paper and wrote that they were 鈥渟hocked鈥� to hear how well Trump did with Latinos, 鈥渇urious鈥� at what they saw as sexism in the results, and 鈥渃oncerned鈥� that America had once again elected a man whose flaws and felony convictions are, by now, well known.

Some answers hit closer to home. 鈥淚 am feeling uneasy,鈥� one student wrote, 鈥渂ecause I鈥檓 afraid what will happen to my family who are undocumented.鈥�

Standing at the front of his class at 脕nimo Pat Brown Charter High School in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood of South Los Angeles, the teacher reminded his students that whether or not they are U.S. citizens, they have 鈥渢he duty to be the protectors of democracy and of each other.鈥� Snyder teaches about 140 students across five government classes, including one AP course. Of the roughly 600 students enrolled at 脕nimo Pat Brown, almost all of them are Hispanic 鈥� their families hailing from Mexico, Guatemala, and elsewhere in Latin America.

Snyder also asked his students to write down one issue that they care about and how they think Trump鈥檚 election might impact it. The students chose abortion rights, the economy, constitutional norms, and, again and again, immigration. They shared their fears of mass deportations and stories of family members who had waited years for green cards they may never get.

鈥淢y main concern is how, even despite being a citizen, I still won鈥檛 be protected because my parents are immigrants,鈥� Natalie, 17, a student in Snyder鈥檚 AP U.S. Government and Politics class, told Chalkbeat.

This was originally published by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at .

Ayotte beat Democrat Joyce Craig, the former mayor of Manchester, the state鈥檚 largest city, with 53.6 percent of the vote. Ayotte previously served one term in the Senate from 2011 through 2016 after four years as New Hampshire鈥檚 attorney general. 

The race gained national attention after Ayotte backed, then criticized; and then again backed iPresident-Elect Donald Trump between 2016 and today. Ayotte鈥檚 anti-abortion stance was another sharp difference between her and Craig that attracted attention.

But the candidates also took different positions on school choice issues, mostly centering on New Hampshire鈥檚 鈥淓ducation Freedom Accounts,鈥� a plan the state created in 2021 to give parents money to spend on private school tuition or approved homeschooling expenses.

Similar to vouchers, the accounts give parents $4,100 a year if family income is under 350 percent of the federal poverty level, or $109,000 a year for a family of four. More money is available for families with lower income, English language learners or students with disabilities.

Attempts to expand eligibility for the money this year won some support in the state legislature, but not enough to pass. Ayotte has repeatedly called for choice to be 鈥渦niversal,鈥� not just expanded to some groups. 

鈥淚 believe that parents make the best decisions for their children,鈥� Ayotte last year. 鈥淚鈥檓 a strong believer in education freedom鈥e want to give every child in this state the opportunity to go to the school or the educational setting that is best for them.鈥�

Ayotte鈥檚 husband, Joseph Daley is a math teacher at a private school, St. Christopher Academy in Nashua, where students use the accounts.

Her opponent vigorously opposed the accounts, calling them a that takes millions of dollars of tax money away from public schools. The American Federation of Teachers – New Hampshire endorsed Craig,

Ayotte also pledged to back and sign a 鈥減arental bill of rights鈥� if elected. There have been and nationally. Ayotte鈥檚 campaign did not clarify what the bill would include.

The most prominent in New Hampshire, , required schools to share with parents if students identify as a different gender at school, including using different names. That bill sparked emotional debate last year, with the LGBTQ community saying students have the right to not be 鈥渙uted鈥� to judgmental parents and parents saying they have a right to raise their children as they want.

from parents, the first state supreme court to rule on an issue flaring up in several states.

Ayotte, however, said throughout the campaign and on that she will 鈥渆nthusiastically work to pass and sign the Parental Bill of Rights.鈥�

鈥淧arents have a right to decide what is best for their child 鈥� period,鈥� according to her site.

LOUISVILLE 鈥� A constitutional amendment to allow the Kentucky General Assembly to fund nonpublic schools failed at the ballot box Tuesday.

Amendment 2 鈥�  which 65% of voters rejected, 鈥� would have opened a path for the Republican-controlled legislature to allow state dollars to flow to nonpublic schools, such as private or charter schools. , Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, attempted to bolster support for the measure while Democrats led by Gov. Andy Beshear attacked the amendment as a threat to public education.

Opposition to Amendment 2 spanned rural and urban Kentucky, said Will Powers, the policy and public engagement coordinator for the Kentucky Student Voice Team, which toured the state by bus rallying opposition.

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鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a ubiquitous message. Everyone resonates with it,鈥� Powers said Tuesday night during a Protect Ours Schools PAC watch party in Louisville. 鈥淓very community has a public school, not every community has a private school. And I think we鈥檙e seeing the ramifications of that one true fact.鈥�

Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, said he was not surprised Amendment 2 failed.

鈥淭he opposition to Amendment 2 was bipartisan,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥淚t was really defeated by a huge margin in many rural counties that also voted for Donald Trump. So Kentuckians are smart. They were discerning, and they they saw this for what it was. It was a scam funded by outside billionaires to shift dollars away from public schools and to fund private school vouchers. And Kentuckians, by it looks like a very wide margin, said no.鈥�

KyPolicy, a progressive think tank, opposed the measure and earlier this year that showed how similar systems to fund private schools in other states could harm the state鈥檚 public schools if they were replicated in Kentucky. Bailey said the defeat of the amendment would be 鈥渁n end to this debate鈥� and politicians should focus on further investments in existing public schools.

Outgoing Senate Republican Floor Leader Damon Thayer, of Georgetown, called the Amendment 2 defeat 鈥渄isappointing, but not surprising.鈥� He said in a phone interview that opponents of the amendment 鈥渃onfused鈥� voters and added that 鈥渋t鈥檚 hard to get people to understand a constitutional question when the opposition completely misleads the issue.鈥�

鈥淎lso, I wish the Republican Party of Kentucky had been more engaged in defending the issue,鈥� Thayer said.

Thayer said the Kentucky Democratic Party was engaged in getting voters to oppose the amendment. KDP held numerous press conferences around the state led by Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, and Democratic candidates often voiced their opposition to the amendment while campaigning. 鈥淭he RPK did not ever really engage despite the fact that it was a priority bill of our legislative supermajority,鈥� Thayer said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 hard to change the Constitution. That鈥檚 the way it is. And it鈥檚 the one disappointment on what appears to be a really good night.鈥�

Beshear said in a statement that lawmakers should 鈥渞ecognize the will of the people and get serious about ensuring that every Kentucky child gets a world-class public education.鈥� Beshear said that includes better funding public schools, raising teacher pay and establishing a universal pre-K program in Kentucky.

鈥淜entucky voters have once again definitively stated that public dollars belong only in public schools,鈥� Beshear said.

In a statement reacting to the defeat of Amendment 2, Kentucky Students First, one of the leading PACs supporting the amendment, said its members and volunteers 鈥渇ought hard to change the status quo protected by Kentucky鈥檚 education special interests.鈥�

鈥淭hough the results may not have been in our favor, this campaign has been a powerful force for standing up to the Kentucky education bureaucracy,鈥� Kentucky Students First said. 鈥淧erpetuating the low performance of Kentucky鈥檚 education system is a disservice to our children and our Commonwealth. Kentucky students deserve better, and our resolve to serve students over systems remains unchanged.鈥�

A lot of money has been spent trying to sway voters on Amendment 2, with both sides reporting , according to the final pre-election finance reports. Beshear and Paul both took to airwaves in ads sponsored by political action committees. Most of the $16 million came from outside Kentucky, with much of it from 鈥渄ark money鈥� groups which structure themselves in a way that lets them keep their donors鈥� names private.

Days , Paul heralded Amendment 2, saying it would allow 鈥渢he legislature to do what they鈥檙e supposed to do 鈥� debate how best we should get education for our kids.鈥� Beshear decried the amendment as 鈥渁 blank check to Frankfort politicians.鈥�

Amendment 2 would have suspended seven sections of the state Constitution to allow public money to flow to nonpublic schools. The legislation for the amendment was earlier this year and an attempt to overcome constitutional hurdles cited by Kentucky courts striking down earlier charter school and private school tax credit laws.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on and .

Four Republicans prevailed in five contested Texas State Board of Education races Tuesday night, solidifying a GOP majority on the board responsible for determining what the state鈥檚 5.5 million public school children learn in the classroom.

Factoring in the election results, the board now comprises 10 Republicans and five Democrats. Democrats regained a seat after it was vacated by Aicha Davis, who stepped down to run for the Texas House.

Republican incumbents Tom Maynard (District 10), Pam Little (District 12) and Aaron Kinsey (District 15) defeated their Democratic challengers, while Republican Brandon Hall, who ousted longtime GOP incumbent Patricia 鈥淧at鈥� Hardy (District 11) in the March primary, was also victorious.

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In the race for the District 1 seat currently held by El Paso Democrat Melissa Ortega, who decided not to seek another term, Democrat Gustavo Reveles defeated Republican challenger Michael 鈥淭ravis鈥� Stevens.

Democrats Marisa Perez-Diaz (District 3) and Staci Childs (District 4), both of whom ran uncontested, held onto their seats. Tiffany Clark, a Democrat running to fill the District 13 seat vacated by Davis, also won after running unchallenged.

The 15 members on the board play an extraordinary role in determining what students learn in the classroom and what鈥檚 required for kids to graduate, as well as in overseeing to support Texas public schools.

The stakes of were especially high this year, since the group鈥檚 responsibilities next year could include revising Texas鈥� social studies curriculum. Some conservatives on the Republican-dominated board campaigned on the idea that public schools are harming children with how they teach America鈥檚 history of racism and its diversity.

The board in recent months has fielded complaints about a Texas Education Agency-proposed curriculum that, if approved later this month, would insert into elementary school reading and language arts lessons. The group has on a long-awaited Native Studies course, covering the culture and history of tribes and nations across Texas and the U.S. And in recent years, the board has over their messaging on climate change and its to school vouchers, a program that would set aside public tax dollars for parents to pay their children鈥檚 private school tuition.

Of the eight races this year, here are the results of the five contested ones.

District 1

Democrat Gustavo Reveles defeated Republican Michael 鈥淭ravis鈥� Stevens in , which encompasses El Paso County and part of Bexar County.

Reveles, who currently serves as communications director for the Canutillo school district outside of El Paso, said he ran to ensure that Texas鈥� border community continues to have a presence at the state level. While acknowledging that he has not worked as a teacher or an educator, Reveles said the board needs people who respect educators as leaders and experts in the field. Top of mind for Reveles is helping ensure that students of all backgrounds feel represented in curricula. He also would like to see a more rigorous approval process of , which are publicly funded but privately managed.

District 10

In , which includes Bell County and part of Williamson County, Republican defeated Democrat Raquel S谩enz Ortiz.

Maynard, of Florence, has served on the board for 11 years. He is currently the chair of the board鈥檚 Committee on School Finance and helps oversee the known as the Permanent School Fund. With more than 30 years in education, Maynard spent more than a dozen of them as an agricultural science teacher. He also worked as of the Texas FFA Association. Maynard鈥檚 priorities include improving the quality of instructional materials, creating and implementing a library book review process and completing revisions to the social studies and mathematics standards as some of his top priorities. He also has said he opposes so-called 鈥渨oke ideologies鈥� in public education, , and has vowed to 鈥渃ontinue to fight to ensure students are not subject to radical and inappropriate content in Texas classrooms.鈥�

District 11

In , which includes Parker County and part of Tarrant County, Republican Brandon Hall defeated Democrat Rayna Glasser and Green Party candidate Hunter Crow.

Hall is a youth pastor who has described Texas as having 鈥渁 broken public education system鈥� where kids 鈥渇ace an onslaught against their innocence鈥� 鈥� particularly with how America鈥檚 history of racism is taught in classrooms and what he has called 鈥渙bscene library books鈥� and a 鈥渟exualized agenda.鈥� Hall his commitment 鈥渢o making quality, conservative education a reality for all students鈥� and to establish charter schools more easily. He also wants parents to 鈥減lay a central role in shaping the educational trajectory of their children.鈥�

District 12

In , which includes Collin County, Republican Pam Little defeated Democrat George King.

Little, of Fairview, has served on the board since 2019 and is currently the group鈥檚 vice chair. A co-owner of a fence company, she has taught courses in small business management in community college, according to her . Little has voted against presenting a 鈥渂iased view鈥� of the fossil fuel industry and social studies standards that 鈥渨ater down our history,鈥� according to her . She listed as her accomplishments while on the board, among other things, implementing phonics-based curriculum standards, approving personal financial literacy education and updating the Texas Dyslexia Handbook.

District 15

In , which includes Ector and Lubbock counties, Republican Aaron Kinsey defeated Democrat Morgan Kirkpatrick and Libertarian Jack Westbrook.

Kinsey, of Midland, was elected to the board in 2022 and appointed chair by Gov. last December. Kinsey is a former Air Force pilot who now oversees an aviation oil field services company in Midland, according to . At the Texas Republican Party Convention this year, Kinsey acknowledged he did not know much about the State Board of Education prior to running but that he did 鈥渦nderstand the greatness of Texas鈥� and that his family鈥檚 values were not being represented in public schools. Among Kinsey鈥檚 top priorities, he said at the convention, is for schools to teach Texas children 鈥渉ow to think and not to hate themselves.鈥� He also advocated for curricula that embrace 鈥渃apitalism and self-reliance as nobel quests.鈥� Kinsey proclaimed at the end of his speech: 鈥淵ou have a chairman who will fight for these three-letter words: G-O鈥揇, G-O-P, and U-S-A.鈥�

This article originally appeared in , a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

showed that candidates backed by the powerful Chicago Teachers Union won four seats, one of them unopposed. Meanwhile, pro-school choice candidates backed by wealthy donors won three seats, with three seats won by independent candidates.

The independents include a rapper who beat three opponents on the city鈥檚 South Side. said he ran to ensure that every school gets a registered nurse, a librarian, counselors, tutors, support staff and quality arts instruction.

The 10 new board members will join 11 others who will be appointed in coming weeks by Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former teacher and union organizer.

鈥淭here’s a lot going on here,鈥� said Hugo Jacobo of , a nonprofit that supports independent school board candidates.

Groups that advocate for charter schools spent about $3 million on the race, The Chicago Sun-Times , with the union spending about $1.6 million on its endorsed candidates through its own political action committees and at least eight other PACs. Other estimates show the union spending more than on the races.

The union鈥檚 preferred candidate came up empty in District 3, one of Chicago鈥檚 most politically progressive areas. A reform-oriented candidate, , beat union-endorsed candidate by 12 percentage points, despite a reported $300,000 in donations. The union painted a more positive picture Tuesday night, with President Stacy Davis Gates , 鈥淏illionaires spent a lot of money to get three out of 21,鈥� referring to the larger board that will eventually be seated. 鈥淚 keep telling you, it鈥檚 cumulative. It keeps getting bigger and it keeps growing. And we want more people for this group project.鈥�

Tuesday鈥檚 results push Chicago Public Schools, the fourth-largest school system in the United States, into a new phase, with observers saying a fully elected board could improve schools and make them more responsive to parents and taxpayers. 

But whether the shift will curb the system鈥檚 recent chaos is another matter. 

Last month, the entire seven-member board resigned after Mayor Brandon Johnson threatened to oust schools CEO Pedro Martinez. Johnson had appointed six of the seven members . 

He brought in a new board, but a week later the newly appointed president, the Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson, after news reports revealed he鈥檇 written antisemitic and sexist posts on social media and posted that he agreed with a theory that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were an 鈥渋nside job.鈥�

Tuesday鈥檚 split result, while offering what will likely be a variety of perspectives on finances, management and curriculum, is bound to be just the beginning of a new, and perhaps even more tumultuous era 鈥� for one thing, all 21 seats, including the 10 from Tuesday, will be on the ballot in 2026.

“This first cycle was really a warm-up for 2026, when all 21 seats are up for election and the stakes are real,鈥� said Peter Cunningham, a former head of communications for the district and founder of the nonprofit .

Cunningham, who also served as a spokesman for U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, said Tuesday鈥檚 election 鈥渂ecame a referendum on Mayor Johnson and the teacher’s union because of the chaos at the board over the last few months. They did not get a clear mandate to pursue their more controversial policy proposals, but they will likely do it anyway because this is their last chance to control the board.”

The range of ideologies among fully elected board members could fuel further drama, said Meredith Paige, a mother of two high schoolers and leader of , an advocacy group.

鈥淭he chaos is going to continue,鈥� she said.

From appointed to elected board  

For nearly 30 years, Chicago鈥檚 mayors have enjoyed the right to appoint and dismiss board members, with the city standing for decades as one of just a handful with mayoral control 鈥� New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Detroit are among others where mayors still wield considerable power over school policy. 

Until now, Chicago Public Schools was also the school district in Illinois that didn鈥檛 have an elected board. But the state legislature in 2021 ordered the city to transition to a fully elected, 21-seat board. 

It may take a while for the changes to sink in with voters, said Paige, who canvassed in neighborhoods last week and met 鈥渁 lot of people who had no idea that there was a school board election.鈥� Others believed Chicago already had an elected school board. 鈥淪o that’s been a problem the whole time,鈥� she said. 鈥淓ven now, parents don’t understand how this is going to work.鈥�

Among the first business items the hybrid board will face in coming months: whether to terminate the contract of Martinez, the schools CEO, who has served since 2021. They must also decide whether to approve Johnson鈥檚 push to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars to defray short-term expenses, including a $175 million pension payment for non-teaching employees.

The district faces a projected deficit of $505 million next fall, due partly to rising healthcare costs and the expiration of federal ESSER pandemic funds. Johnson鈥檚 predecessor, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, also shifted hundreds of millions of dollars in pension costs from City Hall, which had historically underwritten them, to the district.

And the city is also hemorrhaging students: enrollment has dropped by 20%, or more than 80,000 students, since 2010.

In July, Martinez and the school board proposed a $9.9 billion budget that aimed to close the deficit through staff cuts and freezes affecting nearly 250 jobs. The board authorized the budget as written, but relations between the mayor and the district soured. 

Johnson has proposed taking out a $300 million loan to fund teacher pay increases and pension contributions, and he in October for comparing his critics to confederates who opposed freeing slaves 鈥渂ecause it would be too expensive.”

Even if both sides agree on a new source of spending, the district and the union are also engaged in a contentious negotiation over the terms of the next teacher contract. One estimate said paying out an expected series of teacher raises and taking on more pension debt from the city could increase its deficit to nearly $1 billion. 

Despite Johnson鈥檚 bid to fire Martinez, the CEO remains popular, said Jacobo of Chicago Democrats for Education. 鈥淗e’s the only one really concerned about the financial situation of our city and our school district system, so people want someone responsible like him to stay.鈥�

Paige, the parent advocate, agreed. 鈥淭he mayor and CTU want to fire the CEO, who has brought a lot of stability to the district. So there’s a lot of frustration over that.鈥�

She said the bitter, two-week in 2019 is also having lingering effects: 鈥淭here’s still a lot of toxicity in the system over that 鈥� and just a general鈥� she hesitated, 鈥溾�榝rustration鈥� is the nicest word I can think of right now 鈥� that the mayor seems so disconnected from reality of the financials that he wants to put the district in peril to pay the teacher’s contract.鈥�

The state legislature has given Chicago until 2027 to transition to a fully elected board, and despite the challenges, Jacobo said the change will be welcome.

鈥淚’m very glad that there will be a number of these new school board elected members who honestly are just not beholden to anyone but the parents, the voters in their district,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd when they talk, when they speak, it’ll be with a perspective of what is best for their community. I think it’s one step forward, but a lot of work to go.鈥� 

One day after the 2024 election, Gov. Bill Lee and lawmakers rolled out a recycled 鈥渦niversal鈥� private-school voucher program designed to gain support from teachers and school districts with extra spending.

The measure doesn鈥檛 have a funding estimate attached, but lawmakers placed $144 million in this year鈥檚 budget for a plan that failed to pass, and the new proposal could cost another $275 million, plus funds to give teachers a one-time $2,000 bonus. In addition, 80% of all sports wagering money is to be dedicated to building and maintaining K-12 public schools.

Lee鈥檚 plan would provide 20,000 鈥渟cholarships鈥� worth $7,075 for students to enroll in private schools in 2025-26 with 10,000 of those for students from families at or below 300% of the maximum income to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches 鈥� which is estimated to be nearly $175,000 per household income. Students with disabilities and those in the state鈥檚 education savings account program would be eligible too.

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Some 350 private schools would be eligible to participate in the program and would be required to administer the state鈥檚 standardized test or one that fits their curriculum, but the bill says they would maintain educational freedom.

The state would add 5,000 鈥渟cholarships鈥� each year once 75% of them are provided to students.

In introducing the bill, Lee and key lawmakers said they want to offer students a chance at educational success 鈥渞egardless of their ZIP code.鈥�

鈥淕iving parents the ability to choose for their child will provide more opportunities and reduce poverty throughout our state,鈥� said House Speaker Cameron Sexton, who opposed the school voucher program in 2019. 鈥淚ncreased competition for a student鈥檚 enrollment will make schools, school systems and administrators meet the need for a higher quality of education.鈥�

Lawmakers failed to pass a similar bill proposed by the governor earlier this year when the Senate and House couldn鈥檛 agree to widely disparate versions. The House bill contained funding to give teachers more money for insurance as well as for districts to maintain school buildings. The Senate version allowed students to transfer to any public district in the state.

Lee told reporters Wednesday this is the legislation鈥檚 鈥渘ext step鈥� and said he believes lawmakers are 鈥渕oving in that direction鈥� to pass the bill. General Assembly leaders have tried to address members鈥� concerns in writing the bill, he said.

House Majority Leader William Lamberth said in a statement the bill 鈥渓eaves no stone unturned when it comes to providing the very best educational path to set the next generation up for success.鈥� He said the measure will allow public schools to remain the foundation for Tennessee鈥檚 education system while enabling parents instead of the governor to determine which route helps their children the most.

The press release also says the bill 鈥渆nsures state funding to school districts will never decrease due to disenrollment,鈥� and the governor backed that up Wednesday.

One of opponents鈥� biggest complaints has been that private-school vouchers will drain money from public schools.

Yet the bill says a school district鈥檚 funding 鈥渟hall not decrease from one year to the next year due to the disenrollment of students.鈥� If districts lose students, the state would have to pay additional funds to those districts to cover those transfers for just one year.

In addition, the bill denies 鈥渟cholarships鈥� to undocumented students, even though a 1982 Supreme Court case, Plyler v. Doe, prohibits states from denying students a free public education based on immigration status.

Democratic Sen. Jeff Yarbro of Nashville said it is clear the governor is trying to buy teachers鈥� support with bonus pay.

鈥淚t鈥檚 offensive that this voucher con job, which quite clearly will make it nearly impossible for Tennessee to keep paying teachers what they deserve, is being accompanied by this one-time token money,鈥� Yarbro said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on and .

This was produced by  a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet focused on education.

Over the past few years, it鈥檚 become clear that states need more money to support kids.  is long gone, but effects from  still linger, evident in persistent child care shortages and ongoing child behavioral and mental health concerns. Now, states are increasingly trying to generate new sources of money to support young children, although in at least one state, a ballot measure was designed to pull back on just these kinds of efforts.

At least a dozen measures were on ballots across the country Tuesday, proposing tax increases or new revenue streams to pay for child care and other child-focused services. Voters overwhelmingly chose to maintain or increase spending on these initiatives 鈥� though there were some holdouts.

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Here鈥檚 a look at how early childhood fared this election: ()

Child care:

 Washington state:  aimed to repeal a capital gains tax that passed in 2021 and has since provided child care subsidies and money for select child care programs. By failing, the tax and funding stream for child care will remain in place. 

 Travis County, Texas:  called for a property tax increase to raise more than $75 million to create affordable child care spots and mitigate the loss of federal pandemic funds for local child care programs. 

 St. Paul, Minnesota: The 2024 Early Care and Learning Proposal is a property tax levy aimed at providing public funding to child care. The city would raise $2 million the first year and add an additional $2 million each year until year 10, with this money going into a special early care and education fund that would . (The city鈥檚 mayor, Melvin Carter, said he was  if it passed). 

Sonoma County, California:  asked voters to approve a quarter-cent countywide sales tax to create a local revenue stream that would help pay for child care and children鈥檚 health programs, with a special emphasis on children who experience homelessness. The initiative gained over 20,000 signatures from registered voters to qualify for the November ballot. 

 La Plata County, Colorado:  will redirect up to 70 percent of revenue from a lodger鈥檚 tax toward child care and affordable housing. 

 Grand County, Colorado: Ballot Measure 1A will increase the county鈥檚 lodging tax from 1.8 percent to 2 percent, with the revenue paying for tourism, housing and child care. 

 Montrose, Colorado:  will increase the city鈥檚 hotel tax and put 17 percent of the revenue toward local child care. 

Early childhood health, education and well-being:

 Platte County, Missouri:  measure calls for a quarter cent sales tax increase to create a revenue stream for mental health programs, including early childhood screening. 

Pomona County, California:  aims to reallocate at least 10 percent of funds in an existing city general fund to create a Department of Children and Youth. The funds would also be used to pay for youth programs, child care and support for parents. 

Santa Cruz, California:  proposed a $0.02 per ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to raise funds that can be used for youth mental health and programs for children. 

 Colorado:  aims to establish a $39 million fund by imposing a 6.5 percent excise tax on guns and ammunition. While most of the money is directed at crime victim and veterans mental health services, $3 million will fund behavioral health services for children. 

 Missouri:  would have established a new gambling boat license, with the estimated $14 million in revenue funding public school early childhood literacy programs. 

 Nevada:  on the ballot this year gave voters the chance to exempt diapers from sales tax, starting on January 1, 2025. 

LGBTQ youth advocacy organizations are reporting sharp increases in calls to suicide prevention hotlines, with the overwhelming majority of callers saying the election is the source of their fears. In addition to teens and children, the groups say that in recent days they have also been contacted by unprecedented numbers of families and teachers.

Starting Nov. 3, the number of crisis-service calls, texts and online chats received by The Trevor Project increased 125% over the week before, with an additional spike 鈥渂eginning Nov. 5 approximately around midnight ET,鈥� an organization spokesperson told 蜜桃影视. Trevor also reported a 200% rise in the number of callers who specifically mentioned the election. 

After former President Donald Trump鈥檚 re-election, Trevor posted an advisory note at the top of : 鈥淭revorText and TrevorChat are currently experiencing long hold times due to the election. If you need immediate assistance, please call the TrevorLifeline at 1-866-488-7386.鈥�

The organization has a number of online resources for youth, caregivers and educators, including guidance on , a and . 

鈥淭he Trevor Project wants LGBTQ+ young people to know that we are here for you, no matter the outcome of any election, and we will continue to fight for every LGBTQ+ young person to have access to safe, affirming spaces 鈥� especially during challenging times,鈥� CEO Jaymes Black said in a statement to 蜜桃影视. 鈥淟GBTQ+ young people: Your life matters, and you were born to live it.鈥�

The , which typically receives 3,700 calls a month, logged 2,146 between Nov. 3 and 6 alone. Young people generally make up the vast majority of contacts, but the rate of calls from parents, grandparents and teachers concerned about someone in their family or class jumped from less than 7% of all contacts to 28% during those three days. 

鈥淢ost of the time, we take calls from kids in crisis who don’t have supportive families, who are afraid of being evicted or afraid of being outed,鈥� says Lance Preston, the organization鈥檚 executive director. 鈥淧arents are now calling us about, 鈥榃hat am I going to do? What if this turns into a situation like Texas, where if I support my child, I’m going to be investigated by CPS?’ Teachers reaching out and saying, 鈥榃hat if I am a supportive ally and my school decides that I [shouldn鈥檛 have a] license anymore? Is this election going to create a situation where I could lose my job?鈥� 鈥� 

The weekend before the election, Rainbow鈥檚 hotline took a call from an Alabama 16-year-old who reported he was part of a four-teen suicide pact, Preston says. His colleagues were able to intervene to stop the plan.  

鈥淭hey had decided that if Trump won the election, that they were going to kill themselves because that meant that the United States people did not want them here and did not want their existence to be accepted,鈥� he says. 

鈥淚’m so thankful that that young person reached out to report that, because we were able to get to the other kids, get their parents involved and do some mitigation and get them some help. But that would have been four kids that we would have lost. That is unacceptable.鈥�

Last winter, the number of calls to Rainbow Youth from young Oklahomans more than tripled after transgender teen Nex Benedict died by suicide following months of in-school bullying. The suicide occurred in February, after a fight in a girls鈥� restroom that Nex had been forced to use under a new state law.

Nine in 10 callers reported bullying in their school, Preston said at the time. Since the start of this calendar year, the organization has heard reports of nine LGBTQ teen and nine adult suicides in the state. It now operates a crisis support center in Oklahoma City. 

The Southern Equality Project, which to families in the 25 states that have banned LGBTQ youth health care, also reports a 鈥渟light uptick鈥� in requests from families of trans youth: 鈥淢any of the requests specifically mentioned fears about Trump, a national ban or needing to leave the country for care,鈥� says Communications Director Adam Polaski. 

Because young people have no experience advocating for and securing LGBTQ rights, Preston says, they are particularly vulnerable to political rhetoric. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 fight for these rights,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey were born with them, and now they are seeing them taken away.鈥�

He and other advocates say they expect the volume of calls to stay high through at least February, as a second Trump administration presumably begins acting on campaign promises to end gender-affirming care and curtail in-school LGBTQ protections throughout the country. 

鈥淭he best thing for us to do is to accept where we are, but also to send a positive message to these young people that we may be heartbroken, but we’re not broken,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e need to be putting that positive message out there that we need them to stay with us. They have an army of allies behind them, and we’re going to get through this.鈥�

Houston ISD voters resoundingly rejected a $4.4 billion school bond package Tuesday, a victory for opponents of the district鈥檚 state-appointed leadership and setback for the district鈥檚 years-long push to upgrade campuses.

About 58 percent of voters opposed , which promised to rebuild or significantly renovate roughly three dozen schools, improve campus security, upgrade schools鈥� heating and cooling systems and expand preschool offerings, among other changes. The school bond proposal was the largest in Texas history, and it became the first Texas school bond after the previous 23 passed.

HISD’s last school bond vote, held in 2012, received support from two-thirds of district voters.

The vote came a year and a half after a controversial June 2023 state takeover of HISD, in which the Texas Education Agency installed a new superintendent, Mike Miles, and school board. Since then, Miles has carried out a dramatic overhaul of the district, turning HISD into one of the . 

The bond vote garnered extra attention because it represented community members鈥� first opportunity to vote on an issue that will meaningfully impact district operations since Miles鈥� appointment. Many voters saw it as a referendum on Miles鈥� leadership, with his critics rallying behind the slogan, 鈥淣o trust, no bond.鈥�

Steve McHenry, 76, who cast his ballot at a polling location in Houston鈥檚 Frenchtown neighborhood, said he was voting against the schools package because of issues with the district鈥檚 leadership. All his children attended HISD schools but are now grown, he said.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 like the superintendent and I don鈥檛 like the state running (HISD),鈥� McHenry said.

Usually, large Texas districts pass bonds roughly every five years to keep campus facilities up to date, but HISD . In that time, the district has put off roughly $10 billion worth of needed maintenance and repairs, HISD administrators said during several bond-related meetings. The $4.4 billion total represented HISD鈥檚 most immediate needs for safe and healthy learning conditions, they said. 

The district will now have to pay for some of those upkeep costs out of its general fund, leaving less cash for other operating expenses, such as staff salaries.

Miles expressed frustration with the bond result in a statement HISD released Tuesday evening, arguing students across the district would bear the brunt of the community鈥檚 decision.

鈥淚n this instance, the politics of adults beat out the needs of our children,鈥� Miles wrote. 鈥淚 cannot promise our aging facilities and systems will never be a barrier to student learning. We will do our best to keep long expired heating and cooling systems running, but on very hot or very cold days, we are likely going to have to close campuses to keep students safe.鈥�

Jackie Anderson, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, HISD鈥檚 largest employee union, celebrated the early voting results as a sign that a wide coalition of community members oppose HISD鈥檚 leadership. She hopes the vote encourages Miles and his team to take the union鈥檚 concerns more seriously.

鈥淲e hope that this sends a resounding message to them that we鈥檙e not going away,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淚t would behoove them to sit down and talk to us.鈥�

Two education advocacy nonprofits that have been high-profile bond advocates, Good Reason Houston and Houstonians for Great Public Schools, released statements shortly after early voting results were published that treated the bond result as a defeat. Both groups are backed by some of Houston鈥檚 wealthiest philanthropists, who helped raise about $2 million to support the bond through a political action committee.

鈥淲e are deeply disappointed that the HISD bond measure did not pass,鈥� Good Reason Houston CEO Cary Wright said in a statement. 鈥淭his outcome means we must continue to work within the current insufficient infrastructure, even though we know students deserve and need more.鈥�

Because HISD typically has held bond elections during the November of even-numbered years, the district may be at least two years away from another bond vote. If leaders choose to wait until the state returns power to a locally elected school board, the timeline would likely extend until at least the 2028 election.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The outcome was widely expected in a deep blue state where the last Republican governor left office in 1993. Meyer for the Democratic nomination in a three-way primary decided Sept. 10. 

Education analysts have watched the race for two reasons. The new governor will be under pressure to lead the state鈥檚 General Assembly into acting on a quarter-century of recommendations from task forces and commissions on reforming Delaware鈥檚 Jim Crow-era school funding system. 

Created decades ago to ensure affluent, white communities would continue to get a disproportionate share of education dollars, the finance formula sends more money to districts that already enjoy bigger budgets thanks to higher property taxes. As Delaware鈥檚 population has diversified, the inequities have deepened. Near-unanimity about the scope of the problem has not translated to the political will to boost state funding.

In 2020, Carney settled a lawsuit brought by the ACLU on behalf of the Delaware NAACP and a coalition called Delawareans for Educational Opportunity, in part by agreeing to commission an American Institutes for Research study to determine exactly how underfunded Delaware鈥檚 schools are. 

Earlier this year, the researchers reported that  would cost $500 million to $1 billion. After the report鈥檚 release, lawmakers created a planning commission to figure out how to raise revenue and right inequities, with an eye toward releasing recommendations in October 2025 for a new funding system to take effect in 2027. Not everyone is convinced the timeline is not simply another instance of kicking the can down the road. 

Now, policy wonks are watching to see whether Meyer鈥檚 long experience in K-12 education will translate to political urgency. The governor-elect started his career as a Teach for America corps member at a Wilmington charter school, where virtually all students were impoverished and the inequitable distribution of resources left teachers to struggle. 

During the campaign, Meyer released a detailed, 18-page education platform that included specific proposals for reforming both the state funding system and county-level taxes.

鈥淔unding cannot change overnight but must increase with urgency,鈥� the plan noted, pledging to 鈥淏etter align our state鈥檚 funding system with the AIR report鈥檚 recommendation of an additional increase of $3,400 to $6,400 per pupil.鈥�

Several GOP wins in the Texas House of Representatives on Tuesday will expand Republicans鈥� existing majority, giving Abbott an estimated 87 of 150 seats in the lower chamber. When lawmakers reconvene in January, that could finally give him the votes needed to successfully put forth legislation that offers a universal voucher, or education savings account 鈥� a proposal that many Democrats and rural Republican lawmakers have rejected in past legislative sessions.

鈥淔rankly, it was a bit surprising that Abbott pulled this off,鈥� said Jon Taylor, a political scientist at the University of Texas at San Antonio. 

With flips of Democratic seats in Corpus Christi and Uvalde, the GOP now enjoys an 87-to-63 margin in the House. He noted, 鈥淎t a minimum, the Legislature is likely to pass some form of an Education Savings Account plan,鈥� which families could use to cover tuition or other expenses. 

Taylor added that two House districts in San Antonio came close to flipping the other way, from Republican to Democratic, but fell short by about four percentage points apiece, handing the seats to pro-ESA Republicans.

Abbott, who first began pushing for school choice , has aggressively fought for it ever since. In 2023, he called lawmakers into four special legislative sessions to pass a school choice bill, among other measures, and has proposed giving students about $10,500 per year, overseen by the state comptroller. 

He has also worked over the past year to oust lawmakers who fought his proposal to offer ESAs to all students, not just those whose families are low-income.

With deep pockets, Abbott targets ESA foes

Late last year, Abbott began actively campaigning against members of his own party who stood in his way, portraying them as weak on important issues like border security and property tax relief. He was aided by deep-pocketed donors and political action committees that poured millions of dollars into state legislative races.

Jeff Yass, a well-known school choice proponent and investor in TikTok parent company Byte Dance, contributed more than in this political cycle, while Miriam Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands casinos, spent about , making the pair 鈥� residents of Pennsylvania and Nevada, respectively 鈥� Texas鈥� two biggest political donors.

Last spring, the effort helped persuade voters to unseat eight House Republicans who had blocked ESAs. One of them, of San Antonio, said in a September interview with 蜜桃影视 that he opposed Abbott鈥檚 plan because Texas families already have many options, from magnet schools to charters to a program that lets students in low-performing schools transfer to a better-performing school. Lawmakers, he said, have approved countless programs that provide 鈥渃hoice on top of choice on top of choice鈥� within districts.

Abbott is already doing a victory lap. Taking to the social media site X , he wrote, 鈥淓very candidate that I backed in Texas House general election races won tonight. We even had Republican candidates win seats that had been held by Democrats. There are more than enough votes to pass school choice in Texas.鈥�

Katherine Munal, policy and advocacy director of , said Tuesday鈥檚 election results in Texas mark 鈥渁 significant victory for school choice advocates, signaling a continued momentum for policies that prioritize parental empowerment and educational freedom.鈥�

Texas, she said, 鈥渋s poised to expand opportunities for students and families, allowing them to access a wider range of educational options that best meet their needs. This shift reflects a broader recognition of the importance of individualized education and the belief that every child deserves the opportunity to thrive in an environment that works for them.鈥�

Mark P. Jones, a political scientist at Rice University, said that for Abbott, 鈥渢he night really couldn’t have gone better.鈥� 

The question now, he said, isn鈥檛 whether school choice will succeed in Texas in 2025. 鈥淚t’s really what form of school choice legislation will pass. How robust and expansive will it be?鈥�

The most likely scenario, he said, would have Abbott offering an ambitious proposal with more students covered than in his 2023 plan, and with less money going to school districts that lose students to ESAs.

While foes of Abbott鈥檚 plan can probably still negotiate to help districts, he said any hope that Democrats and anti-school-choice Republicans had of blocking choice in 2025 鈥渧anished last night.鈥�

Abbott has pushed for ESAs despite recent polling that isn鈥檛 necessarily conclusive: of respondents to a recent University of Texas survey said they support spending taxpayer dollars to help families pay for private school. Meanwhile, a poll from the University of Houston and Texas Southern University found 65% support.  

The Texas Education Agency last year estimated that about 500,000 children, or about half of the state鈥檚 private school and homeschooled students, would apply for the program in its first stages, with more each cycle. The figures prompted Democratic Rep. James Talarico during a legislative hearing that it would be 鈥渁 massive transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top.鈥�

He added, 鈥淚t鈥檚 welfare for the wealthy.鈥�

Elsewhere on Tuesday, voters in two states 鈥� Kentucky and Nebraska 鈥� defeated voucher-related ballot measures. A third measure, in Colorado, appeared headed for defeat.

鈥淲e can’t exit this decade with students, in particular low-income students, performing worse than they were performing when they entered the decade,鈥� said Kevin Huffman, CEO of Accelerate, a nonprofit funding academic recovery efforts. 鈥淢y biggest fear is just that people will use the Department of Education as a battering ram for other issues and not use it as a force to take on academic outcomes for kids.鈥�

The Republican nominee, declaring this the 鈥済olden age of America,鈥� in battleground states, like Georgia and Florida, than he did in 2020. As expected, Republicans flipped the Senate and will hold at least a 52-seat majority, with a few races left to call. Control of the House remains undecided. 

Observers expect Trump to immediately nullify the Biden administration鈥檚 Title IX rule that extends protections against discrimination to LGBTQ students. 

Those who campaigned for Trump, and agree with his promises to end in schools, celebrated his comeback.

鈥淎merican parents voted for their children鈥檚 future,鈥� Tiffany Justice, co-founder of the conservative Moms for Liberty advocacy group, . Her name is already among those being tossed around as a possible . She told 蜜桃影视 that she 鈥渨ould be honored to serve the next president of the United States of America.鈥�

Most clues about Trump鈥檚 early priorities come from the conservative Heritage Foundation鈥檚 , or Project 2025. In addition to eliminating Title I funding for low-income students and Head Start for preschoolers from poor families, the plan would remove references to LGBTQ people throughout federal policy.

But even if Washington ends up with a GOP trifecta and federal appointees handpicked by Heritage, the president-elect might not be able to deliver on some of his more bold promises to dismantle the education department and of illegal immigrants.

鈥淪ome of this rhetoric will be tempered with reality once the administration changes,鈥� said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union. 鈥淭his is a president that we are very accustomed to. I understand people are nervous; they’re very concerned. But when it comes down to it, there’s also the reality of governing.鈥�

Eliminating the education department, for example, would require 60 votes in the Senate and would likely be unpopular in the House as well, even if Republicans are still in control, said David Cleary, a former Republican Senate education staffer now working for a left-leaning lobbying firm.

鈥淭he votes wouldn’t materialize,鈥� he said.

Michael Petrilli, president of the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute, added that 鈥渄raconian cuts鈥� in spending would also be difficult to pass. That鈥檚 why Trump is expected to accomplish some of his conservative agenda through executive orders.

鈥淟et’s assume that there is no grand reawakening to the problems that America faces and people stay in their partisan foxholes,鈥� Cleary said. 鈥淭rump will have to take a page out of [President Joe Biden鈥檚] playbook and do a lot by executive action and regulatory plans.鈥�

That would include halting enforcement of Biden鈥檚 Title IX rule 鈥� which, because of litigation from Republican-led governors, currently applies to only 24 states. Officials would likely restart the process of restoring the 2020 regulation completed under former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, which narrowed the definition of sexual assault and expanded due process rights for the accused.

One LGBTQ advocacy organization called Trump鈥檚 victory 鈥渁n immediate threat.鈥�

鈥淭oday, many in our community feel a profound sense of loss and concern for the future,鈥� Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, executive director of GLSEN, said in a statement, pointing to Heritage鈥檚 Project 2025 as the blueprint for how Trump would roll back policies that allow trans students to play on sports teams or use restrooms that match their gender identity. 鈥淲ith these changes, our young people could face increased discrimination, reduced access to safe spaces and diminished legal recognition.鈥�

Trump, a and, at 78, the oldest candidate ever elected president, is also expected to push for private school choice, perhaps along the lines of the $5,000 that passed a House committee in September. But despite the GOP鈥檚 enthusiasm for vouchers and education savings accounts, which allow parents to use public funds for private school tuition and homeschooling expenses, some advocates would like to see greater support for the charter sector.

Petrilli, a self-described 鈥渘ever-Trumper,鈥� said he鈥檚 worried about returning to 鈥渢he political dynamics鈥� of Trump鈥檚 first term, which didn鈥檛 benefit charter schools.

鈥淩eform-oriented Democrats were sidelined or silenced,鈥� he said. 鈥淕iven that there are a lot of kids in blue states like California, New York, and Illinois who desperately need high-quality educational options, this would be a terrible development.鈥�

But Rodrigues sees some bright spots in Republicans鈥� focus on parental rights and school choice. 鈥淭hose things can be positive when not taken to the extreme,鈥� she said.

She鈥檚 encouraged by the prospect of Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana becoming chair of the Senate education committee, where he has already highlighted the importance of improving . 

While the National Parents Union has had close interaction with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and the White House, she said leaders have had ongoing 鈥渄eep conversations鈥� with those on both sides of the aisle.

鈥淧rogress will be made for children in any and all conditions, regardless of what happens in the House and the change up in the Senate,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think the depth of our relationships are not confined to one particular party.鈥�