Project 2025 outlines a comprehensive plan aimed at reshaping the U.S. education system by promoting greater educational freedom and enhancing parental rights. Key proposals include expanding school choice through voucher programs, reducing federal oversight, and granting parents greater control over their children’s education, particularly regarding curricula on sensitive topics. Advocates argue that these measures will foster more personalized education while reflecting local values. However, critics warn that the shift could lead to increased inequality, reduced funding for public schools, and a lack of nationwide educational standards, sparking concerns about long-term consequences for students.
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
POLICY: More Educational Freedom And Parental Rights
Pillar 4 of Project 2025 includes significant educational freedom and parental rights proposals. These proposals aim to expand school choice, allowing parents more control over their children’s education. One option is to opt out of curricula they find objectionable, such as those addressing LGBTQ+ issues or critical race theory.
Eliminating The Department of Education & Reviving School Vouchers Across The Land
Project 2025’s proposals on education involve a significant shift in control from the federal government to state and local authorities, emphasizing “educational freedom” and “parental rights.”
These proposals advocate for reducing the role of the U.S. Department of Education, potentially cutting federal educational funding to states and rolling back regulations that govern public schools.
The focus would be on increasing school choice through vouchers, allowing public funds to be used for private and religious schools. This could lead to a more privatized education system.
Speaking of that, school vouchers are a highly debated topic with strong arguments on both sides. Supporters argue that vouchers allow parents to choose the best educational setting for their children, whether that includes private and religious schools or not. They say that vouchers create competition, driving public schools to improve, and only good schools will retain students. Voucher supporters also say vouchers help low-income families access schools they otherwise couldn’t afford.
All of that sounds awesome, but there are arguments on the other side. Vouchers divert public funds from already underfunded public schools that are centrally located for their student pool, exacerbating education inequality. On the quality argument, numerous examples of private/charter schools demonstrate that they are held to a different standard than public schools, including having non-professionally trained teachers. There’s also a segregation problem – human nature shows that we tend to choose schools that align with our socioeconomic or religious backgrounds. Non-centrally located private schools also present transportation barriers for less affluent families, and tuition and uniform costs can easily exceed the funding vouchers provide. Schools will end up being less diverse, and that’s not insignificant.
More Parental Authority To Opt Out Of Objectionable Content
Additionally, Project 2025 aims to empower parents with more control over their children’s education, particularly in curriculum areas. Parents would have greater authority to opt their children out of content they find objectionable, such as perceived teachings on LGBTQ+ issues or critical race theory. The idea is to ensure that education aligns more closely with conservative values and local community standards rather than federal guidelines.
Would this be good or bad? These changes are intended to provide more tailored educational experiences. Still, they could also lead to significant disparities in academic quality and access across different regions of the country, especially when comparing urban areas with more funding avenues to rural ones with fewer. Critics worry that such an approach might undermine efforts to create a more equitable education system and could exacerbate existing inequalities.
More Local Control, Less Federal Oversight
The proposed reduction in federal oversight of education within Project 2025 is rooted in the belief that local and state governments should be primarily responsible for education rather than the federal government. This approach is behind the push to limit the role of the U.S. Department of Education or even eliminate it altogether. It could also lead to significant cuts in federal funding and public school regulations. The idea is to give more control to local entities, allowing them to determine curricula, standards, and policies aligning with what they determine are local values and needs.
What would some of the practical consequences be of doing these things? You could summarize those as even less money for schools, less uniformity in what’s being taught across the country, more flight out of public schools and into private schools, and fewer federal rules on what you can or should do in education.
- 1. Reduced Federal Funding: Federal grants and programs that support public schools, particularly in low-income areas, might be reduced or eliminated, forcing states and local municipalities to fill the gaps.
- 2. Increased School Choice: The proposal could expand voucher programs, allowing public funds to be used for private and religious schools, which might lead to a more privatized education system.
- 3. Curriculum Control: Local and state authorities would have greater freedom to set their own curricula, potentially leading to significant disparities in educational content across the country, especially on topics like science, history, and health education. This could complicate college acceptance for students.
- 4. Fewer Rules: There would likely be fewer federal mandates on standardized testing, teacher qualifications, and school accountability measures.
If Project 2025 got its way with these proposals, there would be a massive change in how education is managed in the U.S. Not everyone thinks that’s good or bad. Those who think it’s good may claim it would lead to more tailored education systems reflecting community values. Those who think it’s bad will point to concerns about widening disparities and a reduction in the overall quality of education.
POLICY: Limiting Federal Oversight on Personal Liberty Issues
If the Project were a single person, they would argue that true liberty involves not just freedom from government interference but also the freedom to live according to conservative moral values. This includes proposals to remove federal support for LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, and gender equality initiatives, framing these as government overreach into personal and religious freedoms.
While Project 2025 frames its proposals under this pillar as efforts to secure individual rights, many policies would actively restrict rights and freedoms, particularly for marginalized groups.
The Project argues that true liberty involves freedom from government interference in what it views as moral issues. This includes proposals to strip federal support for initiatives related to gender equality, LGBTQ rights, and reproductive rights, framing these as government overreach rather than protections for individual freedoms.
Let’s stop for a moment to see if you caught that. In their view, it’s not just freedom from government interference; it’s “freedom to live according to conservative moral values.” Project 2025 argues that current federal policies impose a secular and progressive agenda that limits individuals’ ability to live according to conservative moral values.
For example, they suggest that government support for LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, and gender equality initiatives interferes with religious and personal freedoms, forcing individuals and businesses to act against their beliefs. The Project contends that true liberty includes expressing and living by conservative principles without government mandates that conflict with these values.
A Key Criticism: Is True Freedom Living How You Want vs. Is True Freedom Telling Others How They Can’t Live?
It seems like Project 2025 is saying that if someone else wants to have an abortion and the government allows it, that somehow means that you aren’t being allowed to live according to your values because someone else is being allowed to do something with which you disagree.
Project 2025 argues, in essence, that allowing others to exercise rights that conflict with conservative values—such as access to abortion or recognition of LGBTQ rights—diminishes the ability of conservatives to live fully according to their own values.
The logic is that the mere existence of these rights in the public sphere forces those who disagree with them into complicity or participation, thus infringing on their freedom to live according to their beliefs. This controversial viewpoint seeks to frame the existence of legal rights to which conservatives object and differing social norms as a form of coercion against those who hold conservative views.
Conclusion: Winding Down On The Policy Pillars
These four pillars based on conservative ideology form the foundation of Project 2025:
- Restoring the Family: Focus on traditional family structures and opposition to LGBTQ rights.
- Dismantling the Administrative State: Reducing the federal government’s regulatory role and increasing executive power.
- Defending Sovereignty: Strengthening borders, reducing international commitments.
- Securing Individual Rights: Framing conservative views on freedom, such as promoting gun rights and limiting LGBTQ and reproductive rights.
Combined, they’re designed to bring about sweeping changes that would reshape American society and governance according to conservative ideals. However, these ambitious goals come with significant risks and far-reaching implications that could deeply impact the daily lives of millions of Americans.
As we move forward, it’s crucial to explore what’s truly at stake—how these proposals might alter the fabric of everyday life, impacting everything from personal freedoms to the functioning of our democracy. We will discuss this in the next part.
This is the 12th installment of our deep dive into Project 2025, in which we examined its conservative ideology and goals and how they could drastically alter our nation. The next installment, #13, can be found here: Project 2025 and its far-reaching effects on the United States
To be taken to Part 1, click here: What is Project 2025? And why should you care?
Image: Pamela Reynoso
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