Your-Vote-Matters.org
Your-Vote-Matters.org
This article examines Donald Trump and the MAGA movement’s desire to dismantle the Department of Education, the appointment of an unqualified secretary, and how their agenda could contribute to keeping the public uneducated and vulnerable to misinformation.
Donald Trump and the MAGA movement have long advocated for the elimination of the Department of Education (DOE), seeing it as an unnecessary federal bureaucracy. They argue that education should be controlled at the state and local levels, giving parents more influence over curricula. However, critics believe that abolishing the DOE would dismantle national education standards, further weaken public schools, and exacerbate disparities in education quality, particularly in low-income and marginalized communities.
For Trump and his supporters, the DOE is seen as a symbol of government overreach. The movement’s rhetoric often emphasizes “parental rights” and opposing policies they claim impose liberal ideologies on students. This push is part of a broader agenda to decentralize and defund public education, which critics argue is a veiled attempt to erode accountability and stifle progress in curriculum reform, particularly in subjects like science, history, and civics.
Trump’s decision to appoint Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education was one of the most controversial of his presidency. DeVos, a billionaire philanthropist with no professional experience in education, was criticized for her lack of qualifications and understanding of public education systems. Her confirmation hearings were widely seen as disastrous, with DeVos failing to answer basic questions about education policy and legal protections for students.
Critics of the MAGA agenda argue that the push to dismantle the Department of Education aligns with a broader strategy to keep segments of the population uneducated and more susceptible to misinformation. By undermining national education standards and emphasizing local control, proponents of this agenda can promote revisionist curricula that downplay critical thinking skills and suppress subjects like science, history, and social studies.
An educated population is often seen as a safeguard against authoritarianism, as education fosters critical thinking, scientific literacy, and an understanding of democratic principles. Reducing access to high-quality education and cutting public funding for schools leaves students less equipped to discern facts from misinformation. This creates fertile ground for political movements that rely on disinformation, conspiracy theories, and populist rhetoric to gain and maintain power.
By weakening the Department of Education and public education as a whole, MAGA proponents are able to foster environments where fact-based discourse is undermined and alternative narratives, including baseless conspiracy theories, can take hold.
The push by Trump and the MAGA movement to eliminate the Department of Education and the appointment of an unqualified leader like Betsy DeVos reflect deeper ideological goals. Critics argue that these efforts serve to erode national educational standards, leaving many Americans vulnerable to misinformation and less equipped to challenge undemocratic ideas. The future of public education in America—and its ability to foster informed, critical-thinking citizens—may depend on whether this agenda can be effectively resisted.