President Donald Trump鈥檚 barrage of first-week policies has already begun to set the tone for schools and education policy in his second term.
Late into his first day, the president signed dozens of his own executive orders and rescinded nearly 80 of his predecessor鈥檚, while his administration began to lay the groundwork for its own initiatives and built out its team. Other first-day policy changes and actions came out of individual Cabinet agencies.
None of these orders deals with schools exclusively, but they signal how the Trump administration will approach protections for LGBTQ+ students that the Biden administration tried to institute and immigration enforcement on and around school campuses. Some of Trump鈥檚 orders that more generally took aim at the workings of the federal government could have an effect on operations at the U.S. Department of Education.
鈥淚 think his administration is going to be much more aggressive,鈥� Jeff Henig, professor emeritus of political science and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, told EdWeek earlier in January.
But Henig doesn鈥檛 think education is likely to be the focus of Trump鈥檚 most aggressive action. After all, states and local school boards have more control over the classroom and school operations than the federal government.
鈥淚 draw a distinction again between what he鈥檚 willing to do on K-12 education per se and what he鈥檚 going to be doing as part of his broader social agenda,鈥� he said. 鈥淓ducation just has fewer payoffs for him and is more protected by Congress and others who want to continue to fund education initiatives.鈥�
Here鈥檚 a roundup of what happened in Trump鈥檚 first week as president that affects schools and education policy.
Overturning years of precedent, immigration officials can now make arrests at schools
Under a directive announced Tuesday night, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol agents no longer have to honor 鈥渟ensitive locations鈥� when conducting enforcement activities鈥攐verturning a 13-year internal policy that has generally prevented agents from making arrests at schools, places of worship, and hospitals without permission from agency headquarters.
Experts advise school leaders to set up protocols for what to do if ICE officials arrive on school campuses or request student information. Another federal law, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, keeps most student information confidential without parents鈥� permission to release it. And a Supreme Court precedent guarantees undocumented students the right to a free, public education.
In anticipation of the policy change under Trump, some districts had already outlined what staff should do if immigration agents came calling, including that they should refer all inquiries from ICE to school attorneys.
Read about how schools can navigate Trump鈥檚 immigration policies. 馃攷
In early actions, Trump undid Biden鈥檚 efforts to protect LGBTQ+ students
On his first day, Trump swiftly ended Biden administration efforts to extend Title IX discrimination protections to transgender students as part of a sweeping executive order that makes it U.S. policy to recognize only two sexes.
The executive order defining sex as male or female calls for official government documents like passports and visas to allow applicants to choose between only two sexes. It also directs the attorney general to instruct government agencies that civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination based on sex鈥攕uch as Title IX, the federal law outlawing sex discrimination at federally funded schools鈥攃an鈥檛 be interpreted to apply to discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, as the Biden administration had done.
It鈥檚 that move鈥攁s well as a federal judge鈥檚 recent decision striking down Biden鈥檚 more expansive Title IX interpretation鈥攖hat could lead the U.S. Department of Education to issue new guidance to schools with instructions on applying Title IX more narrowly.
Read about Trump鈥檚 first-day actions on protections for transgender students. 馃攷
A school safety board, assembled to advise federal agencies on best practices to protect students, was disbanded
Under an inauguration day directive, the Department of Homeland Security terminated current members of the Federal School Safety Clearinghouse External Advisory Board, along with the members of other external boards that work with the agency.
The school safety board was organized last June to advise federal agencies on best practices for keeping students safe as part of an interagency effort that Trump鈥檚 first administration started after the Parkland, Fla., 2018 school shooting to share resources and best practices related to school safety.
The board held its first meeting in October, and included school safety experts, alongside the parents of children who died in school shootings, advocates for civil rights and disability rights, superintendents, and leaders of organizations that represent school and district administrators.
The clearinghouse was codified into law as part of the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which also mandated the creation of the external advisory board.
A memo the members received, from acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman, said the broad decision was part of the agency鈥檚 commitment to 鈥渆liminating misuse of resources and ensuring that DHS activities prioritize our national security.鈥�
Read about the termination of the school safety advisory board鈥檚 members. 馃攷
Trump orders hiring freeze, cracks down on telework, and makes it easier to fire career federal staffers
In some of his sweeping first-day actions, the president imposed a temporary hiring freeze at most federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education. He also issued an order mandating federal employees return to in-office work five days a week.
And the orders allow the incoming administration greater latitude to fire staffers, by reviewing job functions of employees hired in the past year鈥攎any of whom aren鈥檛 yet subject to full civil service protections鈥攁s well as reclassifying employees whose jobs include some form of policy work as political appointees.
Trump issued a similar directive allowing the reclassification of some career workers as political appointees at the end of his first term. Federal employees鈥� unions quickly challenged it in court and President Joe Biden rescinded the action shortly after taking office.
Some have suggested these actions affecting federal workers could help the Trump administration weaken U.S. Department of Education even without abolishing it.
Read about how Trump鈥檚 orders for federal workers will affect the Education Department. 馃攷
Trump formally refers Linda McMahon and Penny Schwinn to the Senate for confirmation
The president formally referred his Cabinet nominees and choices for other top-level agency posts to the Senate for confirmation.
At the U.S. Department of Education, those people are Linda McMahon, Trump鈥檚 choice for education secretary, and Penny Schwinn, the former Tennessee education commissioner whom Trump has tapped as deputy education secretary.
But until McMahon and Schwinn are confirmed by the Senate鈥攖here is no hearing date set for either just yet鈥攖he department is under the leadership of Denise Carter, a longtime federal employee who most recently served as interim leader of the federal student aid office.
Also this week, the department announced 10 senior-level political appointees. They include alumni of the America First Policy Institute, an organization formed after Trump鈥檚 2020 loss that seeks to advance the former president鈥檚 public policy agenda (McMahon most recently served as chair of the board for AFPI), as well as several officials who served in his first administration and on the transition team.
One alumna from Trump鈥檚 first term is Candice Jackson, who led the Education Department鈥檚 office for civil rights. She鈥檒l serve as the department鈥檚 deputy general counsel in Trump鈥檚 second term.
Read about Linda McMahon and Penny Schwinn. 馃攷
Education Department begins to implement Trump鈥檚 priorities
The Education Department began to carry out Trump鈥檚 outlined priorities, vowing to end diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, as well as its involvement with local attempts to remove books from classrooms and school libraries.
As Trump rolled back federal government diversity, equity, and inclusion practices and initiatives in , the Education Department pledged to follow suit in its communications, resources, and staffing.
The department said it had removed or archived hundreds of guidance documents, reports, and training materials that mention DEI. It disbanded the department鈥檚 Diversity & Inclusion Council and the Employee Engagement Diversity Equity Inclusion Accessibility Council within the office for civil rights. It canceled DEI training and service contracts. It withdrew the department鈥檚 equity action plan. And it placed career staff charged with implementing DEI initiatives on paid administrative leave.
The department also said it had flagged for removal more than 200 web pages that it said had DEI resources for schools and colleges.
鈥淭hese actions are in line with President Trump鈥檚 ongoing commitment to end illegal discrimination and wasteful spending across the federal government,鈥� a press release from the department said. 鈥淭hey are the first step in reorienting the agency toward prioritizing meaningful learning ahead of divisive ideology in our schools.鈥�
In , Trump also directed the secretary of education and attorney general to issue guidance to states and schools that receive federal funds on complying with the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned affirmative action in college admissions.
Then, on Friday, the department鈥檚 office for civil rights dismissed nearly a dozen complaints involving district book bans and rescinded previous guidance that said a district鈥檚 removal of books may violate civil rights laws, according to an agency news release. OCR dismissed six other pending cases.
The office also terminated a 鈥渂ook ban coordinator鈥� position the Biden administration created in June 2023, after school boards and state legislatures became the sites of debates over which books classrooms and school libraries should keep on their shelves. Challenges to book have often resulted in the removal of books featuring people of color and LGBTQ+ characters and themes.
