The Biggest Bully on the Playground: How Trump Attacks Public Education to Destroy Democracy, and How We Resist

The Current Moment

Since beginning its second term, the Trump administration has launched a full-scale effort to consolidate power, restructure our country along a far-right, white supremacist agenda, roll back hard-fought progress of our civil rights and civil liberties, and dismantle critical public systems that millions of American families depend on. This attempt came as no surprise, as Project 2025—a preview of the administration’s playbook—mapped out an explicit plan to sow division, undermine our democracy, and replace it with an authoritarian federal government that promotes policies that benefit the rich and embrace discriminatory practices that demonize any form of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

Public education is a bedrock institution of our society’s civic participation and democracy.  Project 2025 explicitly outlines a plan to dismantle our public education system. This follows historical precedents where authoritarian regimes have consistently targeted public education to consolidate power. Governments in Nazi Germany, Pinochet’s Chile, Hungary, and Erdogan’s Turkey centralized curriculum control, purged educators, and reshaped civic instruction to align schools with ruling ideology. Scholars of democratic backsliding note that authoritarian regimes often prioritize education because it shapes national identity and intergenerational political norms. The United States is in the early stages of an authoritarian breakthrough where federal education policy already reflects elements of this historical playbook.  

The federal administration’s agenda signals that racialized stereotypes and dog-whistle messaging will remain central tools in a coordinated effort to undermine public education and dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (USED). We expect to see continued attempts to strip money away from public systems, embolden supporters of a White Christian nationalist worldview, and in turn exacerbate racial and economic inequality.   

The Trump administration is making significant headway in their authoritarian agenda by undermining our democracy and dismantling institutions through executive orders, mass layoffs, unfounded fraud allegations, illegally withholding federal funds, and sudden policy changes lacking clear guidance for implementation. Trump has heavily relied on executive orders as his primary mechanism—a move that reveals the true nature of this administration to erode our nation’s system of checks and balances and instead expand his executive overreach. In his first year alone, Trump signed 225 executive orders, and although many have been successfully litigated against, the administration’s relentless push to bypass Congress underscores a troubling pattern of authoritarian leadership.

See a summary of federal overreach moments in public education since January 2025 below:

These actions reflect a concerning pattern that reveals the administration’s nefarious agenda to reshape public education from a system meant to serve all students into one that increasingly limits access, weakens protections, and excludes communities that public schools are meant to serve. The result is a rollback of hard-won gains in educational equity and disproportionate harm to students of color, LGBTQ+ students, immigrant families, and multilingual learners. These actions have emboldened the far right to pursue discriminatory practices and fearmongering, instilling fear, confusion, and anxiety across communities.  

Public education remains a central battleground of this administration: shrink who counts, silence what does not fit, and control what the next generation believes about themselves and each other. California must continue to defend safe, welcoming, and inclusive schools where all students feel they belong and have the opportunity to learn and thrive.

What is to Come

In a state as racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse as California, public schools play a critical role in shaping social norms of belonging, safety, and respect across differences. These norms, in turn, create that are the foundations for a functioning society and democracy. The federal administration, hiding behind culture-war tropes about DEI, has cut funds, launched spurious investigations, and frozen funding, chilling educators in their own classrooms and putting them on their back feet, while instilling fear in students and families. Trump’s intended effect is, through direct control and coercion, to undermine the values and sense of agency education brings to our children and families who call California home, and to set generational societal and political norms that serve authoritarian interests of consolidating power and wealth.

The following are examples of actions the administration has taken, many of whose impacts are already being felt, as well as imminent threats that communities must prepare for in the months and years to come.

• H.R. 1 IMPACT ON FAMILIES’ ACCESS TO CRITICAL PROGRAMS: H.R. 1, signed in July 2025, represents one of the most sweeping and harmful federal budget overhauls in decades. The bill slashes funding and adds qualification requirements for programs, directly impacting children and students whose families rely on programs like Medi-Cal and CalFresh. We are seeing thousands of California families and children lose access to these critical programs. These changes will lead to more children going to school hungry and missing necessary doctor appointments, while billions of dollars are funneled into deportations and massive tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. Learn more: California at a Crossroads: Creating Long-Term Stability After H.R. 1.
• H.R. 1 SCHOOL VOUCHER PROVISION ADVANCES THE ADMINISTRATION’S SCHEME TO DRAIN PUBLIC FUNDS TO PRIVATE SCHOOLS: The Educational Choice for Children Act in H.R. 1 created the first national “school choice” tax credit program in which states can opt in. Under this policy, individuals can receive a tax credit (up to $1,700 annually) for donations to scholarship-granting organizations that can fund students’ private school tuition. Instead of those dollars going towards our public schools for all, they can be redirected towards private schools for the rich few, part of a longstanding effort to resist school integration and civil rights obligations. Research from states that have already implemented voucher programs shows that vouchers lead to public school closures and worsen student academic outcomes. While California is unlikely to opt in to this program, its national expansion signals a broader shift towards privatization that can divert federal funds away from public education, increasing fiscal pressures on states and local school districts to adequately serve all students.
• K-12 EDUCATION BLOCK GRANT THREATENS TARGETED STUDENT SUPPORTS: Trump’s proposed K-12 “Make Education Great Again” (MEGA) grant would consolidate multiple federal funding programs, including Title I for low-income students and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), into one block grant. Block granting opens the door for states to use the funding however they choose, making it unlikely that the funds will benefit the students or programs for which they were originally intended. States could elect to use this funding for private-school voucher programs, taking even more funding away from the 90 percent of American students who rely on public education. While the proposal did not advance in the most recent adoption of the education budget, it illustrates the continued effort to reduce federal oversight and protections of students who need it most.
• CONTINUED ATTACKS ON IMMIGRANT FAMILIES CREATE FEAR AND FUNDING INSTABILITY:  The federal budget has directed billions toward Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while the administration has targeted California. In the past year, ICE raids have terrorized California’s communities, instilling fear for their safety. Many families have feared leaving their homes, being separated from their children, or being stripped of their citizenship, oftentimes leaning on trusted community members for support ranging from food drop-offs to ridesharing to school. Increased funding toward ICE signals that California can expect to see heightened immigration enforcement, causing fear and anxiety for students and their families, as well as confusion and instability for schools as lower attendance has led to school funding challenges.
• GROWING THREATS TO UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS’ RIGHTS TO A PUBLIC EDUCATION: In addition, there has been a growing threat of stripping undocumented students’ access to a free public education. The Heritage Foundation—a right-wing think tank that authored Project 2025—released a brief in February 2026 calling to overturn Plyler v. Doe, the landmark case that ruled all children have a right to a free public education. The topic has gained traction in some states and in Congress, where in April 2026, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing about the “adverse effects” of Plyler v. Doe.
• COORDINATED ATTACKS ON INCLUSIVE SCHOOL POLICIES: Project 2025 outlines a vision in which federal education funding is used as ideological leverage, with proposals to withhold funds from districts that do not align with a federally defined “Parent’s Bill of Rights” or comply with “patriotic education” mandates. These pressures also come from emboldened parents or community actors seeking to disrupt school communities in their attempt to advance their far-right, conservative agenda. Despite being presented as efforts to empower parents and promote equality, in practice these efforts constrain school districts by promoting the ideas of a narrow, politically motivated faction over the true demands of California families. Schools and districts that continue to support an inclusive education may face investigations or threats of withdrawn funding. The following actions have been pursued in California in recent months: 
• February 2026: The Department of Justice joined a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) over two initiatives - Predominantly Hispanic, Black, Asian, or Other Non-Anglo (PHBAO) and magnet school admissions programs - that are rooted in court-ordered integration efforts and designed to address longstanding racial inequities in the district.  The lawsuit, which was brought forward by the conservative nonprofit 1776 Project Foundation, seeks to prohibit the district from considering race in its efforts to remedy documented disparities, instead alleging “reverse racism."
• March 2026: The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked California from enforcing AB 1955, a policy that protects LGBTQ+ students from being forcibly outed without consent. For many LGBTQ+ youth, school is a critical safe space where they can be their authentic selves. Weakening these protections may risk these students' sense of safety and belonging at school.
• April 2026: the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) reopened an investigation into LAUSD’s Black Student Achievement Plan (BSAP) following a complaint from the right-wing organization, Parents Defending Education. The complaint was framed as concern over race-based discrimination against non-Black students, yet it ignores the historical and ongoing injustices that Black students have been subject to in LAUSD for decades. 

Claiming Hope  

Despite the array of attacks and federal overreach, communities across California have demonstrated resistance and resilience. California’s communities have organized to uplift one another and fight back; this organizing undergirds the power in our communities and drives the demand for deeper commitment to equity and justice. Many of California’s state leaders have shown their commitment to protecting California’s children, youth, and families through state legislation, investments, and litigation efforts. California has and will continue to resist the Trump administration’s efforts to weaken our public education system and advance its authoritarian agenda. 

For instance, in the 2026-27 state budget, the California Legislature passed a bold, annual $1 billion investment into community schools in their budget bill—a strategy that transforms schools into a place where students, families, local community members and educators work together to strengthen conditions for student learning and healthy development.  When signed by the Governor, this investment would allow the existing 2,500 community schools across the state to deepen their work and expand the model to thousands more.  

At the center of community schools are relationship-centered, school-based teams that organize students, families, and staff to meaningfully engage in the decisions made at their school site. This structure of shared decision-making teams ensures community members have a seat at the table; decisions are made with them, not for them. Community schools bolster democratic values in practice by empowering students, families, staff, and community members to have a say in the decisions that impact their school.  

Children and students deserve access to high-quality, joyful, and just learning that enables them to fully participate in our multiracial democracy. California families have built community schools that prove a different kind of education is possible: schools where families and communities co-govern, that wrap services around children and students and treat them as full human beings.

Stories of this transformative community schools approach span the state (specific locations have been omitted to ensure school safety and privacy):

• In Orange County, a school community organized to offer health clinics with free physicals and eye checks and a regularly stocked food pantry to ensure students don’t go hungry.  
• Community schools in Sacramento and San Bernardino have established wellness centers that offer additional mental health support, critical as youth navigate a climate of political-based violence and heightened stress and trauma. 
• In other regions, families and staff at community schools have advocated for and organized safe transportation to school as ICE activity threatened undocumented and mixed-status families in their communities. In one school, parent leaders created a bus route for families afraid to leave their homes, ensuring students still had access to school.

These stories point to a powerful truth—that despite the onslaught of federal attacks led by an authoritarian administration who seeks to control education, community schools build the one thing they cannot control: families,  neighbors, and community, organized to govern the institutions that shape their children's lives. Community schools create the foundation for local resistance needed to disrupt attempts at authoritarian control and to undermine our democratic values and practices. 

While the commitment to deepening and expanding the community schools strategy is one beacon of hope, communities across California must continue to fight back against a federal administration determined to undermine a fair, multiracial democracy. The Trump administration has made their goal clear: consolidate power by dismantling public institutions - including education - to replace democracy with a far-right, authoritarian government. As the Trump administration acts to eliminate public systems that are the bedrock of democracy, California must take bold steps to protect its people and continue building a state where everyone belongs, feels safe, and has the opportunity to thrive.