President Trump signed multiple executive orders on Wednesday targeting the country’s education system, from discipline in K-12 schools to how universities are accredited.
Regarding school discipline, Trump signed an order in the Oval Office intended to undo policies from former Presidents Obama and Biden that Will Scharf, White House staff secretary, said “created issues in the classroom for teachers and students alike.”
Behavioral issues have been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is unclear how much influence the federal government will be able to have over individual school policies on this issue.
“President Trump is taking historic and commonsense action to boost school safety standards. Disciplinary decisions should be based solely on students’ behavior and actions,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.
Another Wednesday order seeks to further integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into American classrooms.
“The basic idea of this executive order is to ensure that we properly train the workforce of the future by ensuring that school children, young Americans, are adequately trained in AI tools, so that they can be competitive in the economy years from now into the future, as AI becomes a bigger and bigger deal,” said Scharf.
In a potential hit to higher education, Trump signed an executive order targeting the college accreditation process.
College accreditation ensures a university can access financial aid, but, Scharf said, “many of those third-party accreditors have relied on sort of woke ideology to accredit universities, instead of accrediting based on merit and performance.”
Accreditors have pushed back on these accusations, as colleges in states that have bans on diversity, equity and inclusion have had no problems getting accreditation.
But if a school does not have accreditation, it would have devastating effects, likely increasing concerns among higher education institutions who have seen Trump is not afraid to mess with their finances.
That’s especially true of Harvard University, which had $2 billion in federal funding revoked in retaliation for not changing its policies based on Trump’s demands. The Ivy League member has sued over the action.
Another order sought to highlight an existing law about foreign gift disclosures.
“There are currently laws on the books requiring certain disclosures of universities when they accept large foreign gifts. We believe that certain universities, including, for example, Harvard, have routinely violated this law, and this law has not been effectively enforced,” Scharf said.
Another Trump order was signed to create a White House initiative to help historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) “do their job as effectively and as efficiently as possible”
“The Department will work with the Initiative and HBCUs to expand partnerships and share best practices for institutions to become hubs of opportunity and economic engines for local industries and employers,” McMahon said.
Lastly, an executive order was signed regarding workforce development, looking to increase the total number of apprenticeships in the country.
“The Trump administration will support communities across the country that are offering career-aligned programs like apprenticeships and dual enrollment to best meet the needs of their workforce,” McMahon said.
