In the heat of one of the most contentious presidential elections in American history, the most basic, agreed upon issues have fallen victim to partisan bias. Even conspiracy theories, which should have no place in public discourse, are taking center stage, such as those questioning the validity of climate change, baseless claims of election fraud, and the unfounded assertion that COVID-19 was deliberately created by China. Former President Donald Trump and his campaign continue to run with these dangerous claims to try and convince the public that these are all part of a massive global conspiracy orchestrated by the “deep state.” This politicization of common sense and anti-intellectualism by the far-right has undermined our ability to engage in rational discourse, and has made it difficult for the average citizen to distinguish fact from fiction.
We are now living in a post-truth era of politics where the question is no longer whether or not something is true, but rather which political party is steering the conversation. Public education is supposed to give the youth of America the opportunity to enrich their mind, regardless of the situation they were born in, and it is through this education that many students awaken to the more disturbing truths of this nation. “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) republicans know this, and so they’ve gone straight to the source, public schooling, to ensure that instead of teaching kids to think for themselves, they are taught to accept biased narratives without question.
Trump’s plan to ‘Save American Education’ is laid out blatantly on his website. He claims to want to liberate students from the “indoctrination” they are currently receiving from “marxists” and “pink-haired communists.” He and the rest of the Republican Party intend to accomplish this goal by eliminating the Department of Education, replacing it with a school-choice voucher system where public funds would be handed out to families to assist in paying for private and homeschool education.
Another element at the forefront of Trump’s “Save American Education” plan includes defunding institutions that teach Critical Race Theory (CRT) and gender theories, citing both these topics as inappropriate content being “forced” onto America’s children. The blatant misrepresentation of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and gender ideology in schools’ curriculum as a means to indoctrinate students has fueled inane backlash from individuals enamored with the political narratives Trump’s administration spins. This distortion has led to a surge of legislative efforts across numerous states to ban CRT and discussions around gender identity in K-12 classrooms, despite the fact that CRT is primarily taught at the graduate level, and the fact that discussions of gender identity are crucial to fostering inclusive environments within classrooms. Without these subjects, instructors are required to omit discussions concerning the systemic racism and historical injustices that are deeply embedded in America’s past. This will deprive students of a holistic understanding of history, hindering their ability to thoroughly engage in contemporary issues in the future.
This dismantling of the public education system is a long-term process, so for now, they’ve started targeting students in individual states. In Oklahoma, State Superintendent Ryan Walters is supplying classrooms with Bibles that must contain historical U.S. documents, such as The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and are bound in leather. These specific requirements for the Bible coincidentally happen to line up perfectly with the ‘God Bless the USA Bible’ that Trump’s team is selling and that the Oklahoma State Department of Education has requested 55,000 copies of. This move outright violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, which prohibits government endorsement of religion, and is clearly just a ploy to try and shape the next generation into Trump loyalists by embedding his agenda into public education.
The extreme leftist propaganda that Trump claims to be poisoning schools does not exist. Instead of saving us from the “Radical Maniacs” that he so fears, he instead intends to keep every American behind a pair of rose-tinted glasses, designed only to see the narrow teachings that align with his own subjective biases and beliefs.
With students being the main focus of Trump’s plan, his actions have already begun to affect the country’s future generations. As high school students enter the world of politics and approach their eligibility to vote, the divergence between political beliefs seeps into a learning environment once considered to be politically neutral. Government affairs are regarded as a crucial aspect in school curriculums for the sake of informing students on what is happening politically within their country. However, political dogma is beginning to dictate the classroom. Students’ views are surpassing the threshold of simply being knowledgeable; their beliefs and statements from political figures take charge in classroom discussions over current affairs. For example, Trump’s campaign statements such as promising to “oversee a ‘mass deportation’ of migrants who have committed crimes” are what gets the gears turning in students’ minds, creating disagreements that further the divide over what to believe regarding immigration. In some cases, students may be led to think that mentioning to their MAGA supporting classmates that they are an immigrant, could warrant the belief that their family is filled with criminals.
As developments continue to progress within students’ political engagement, they fail to provide information for the better. Although older students are able to distinguish misconceptions from the truth, younger students don’t possess this same intellectual ability. Trump continues to blur the line between fact and fiction, with younger students most likely to carry his statements with them as they grow up and enter the real world due to their “openness” to understanding these ideologies. Taking politics out of students’ lives will not aid in eliminating this issue, but rather hinder their development as it is vital to helping them navigate throughout society. Keeping students engaged and informed without forcing the ideologies of MAGA upon them will provide better development in understanding the political choices provided to them.
