With one week to go until Donald Trump鈥檚 inauguration for a second term, many are already looking ahead to what the president-elect鈥檚 proposed Cabinet picks could mean for K-12 education, and educators themselves are no exception. With the announcement of Linda McMahon as the presumptive nominee for education secretary, educator Robert Barnett responded with a message for the former World Wrestling Entertainment executive: 鈥淓ducation is not entertainment.鈥�
鈥淲hen I trained to become a teacher,鈥� he reminisced in a recent opinion essay, 鈥淚 was told quite clearly that my job was to put on a show. I should stand at the board every day and perform my lessons; the more entertaining I was, the more my students would engage and learn.鈥�
But there are three big problems with that expectation of teacher-as-performer, Barnett argues, which it鈥檚 important for the next U.S. secretary of education to realize. Here鈥檚 what he wants McMahon to know before taking on the new challenge of running the U.S. Department of Education.
Betsy DeVos, who served as the education secretary during Trump鈥檚 first term, has her own advice for the next person to step into the role鈥攁dvice she says she鈥檚 already offered McMahon directly. Read the full interview between the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (and Education Week Opinion blogger) Rick Hess and the former secretary to learn more.
Joshua P. Starr took a different tack to Trump鈥檚 education secretary announcement, discussing what educators might expect with McMahon at the helm of the department. In 鈥淗ow My Experience With Linda McMahon Can Help You Navigate the Trump Ed. Agenda,鈥� Starr recalls when the two crossed paths professionally鈥攈e was the superintendent in Stamford, Conn., and she was the CEO of WWE headquartered there.
鈥淢y interactions with McMahon were admittedly limited, and I can鈥檛 speak to her current policy positions,鈥� he wrote of his dealings with the then local business leader. 鈥淵et, I wonder if they point to a direction forward as school system leaders confront the inevitable polemics of the second Trump presidency. It seems to me that at the local level, now is the time more than ever to focus on shared interests.鈥�
What does that look like? Try starting with interest-based decisionmaking, Starr advises.
In addition to advice for navigating the politics of a second Trump administration, opinion writers also reflected on what the recent election results mean for our country鈥檚 civil discourse more broadly.
Even before the votes were counted, civics educators Nicole Mirra and Antero Garcia were confident in one result: 鈥淒uring every election cycle, like clockwork, a large chunk of the blame for the sorry state of democratic life is directed at schools, specifically the lack of time dedicated to civics instruction,鈥� they wrote on Election Day.
In their opinion essay 鈥�69传媒 Are Often Blamed for Our Foundering Democracy. It鈥檚 Not That Simple,鈥� they instead lay out three more productive steps we can take to shore up our civic lives in the next four years and beyond, starting with breaking civics education out of its silo.
In the days immediately following the election results, teacher Larry Ferlazzo sat down to think through what the upcoming administration would mean for teachers and administrators at the school level. Writing for his Classroom Q&A Opinion blog, Ferlazzo proposed that 鈥�With Trump in Office, 69传媒 Should Ask Themselves These Questions.鈥�
Katy Anthes, a former education commissioner of Colorado and a national education leader on depolarization, offered a call to action: 鈥淲e must undo how much we think we hate each other and how much we think the 鈥榦ther side鈥� is evil,鈥� she urged. 鈥淥ur students inevitably absorb this mentality, and they are acting it out now, too.鈥�
In 鈥�A Reminder to America: We Still Agree on More Than We Don鈥檛,鈥� Anthes lays out a road map for bridging those political differences.
Rick Hess interpreted the election results as a reality check for progressives, characterizing the president-elect as 鈥渁 vehicle for a cross-section of Americans to push back against the kinds of out-of-touch dogmas that I believe have fueled so many culture clashes over the past half-decade, especially around schools.鈥�
In 鈥淭rump鈥檚 Win Is a Wake-Up Call for Educators. Here鈥檚 Why,鈥� Hess submits four opportunities for educators to jettison the 鈥渢oxic鈥� education philosophies driving those cultural tensions.
One thing Hess 诲辞别蝉苍鈥檛 think you need to worry in the next four years? The abolition of the Education Department. In 鈥�No, the U.S. Ed. Dept. Won鈥檛 Be Abolished. But Here鈥檚 What鈥檚 Likely to Happen Instead,鈥� Hess argues exactly that: Eliminating the department is a political long shot and, even if it were to happen, it might not matter as much as you think.
Jonas Zuckerman, a classroom teacher turned education consultant, focused his attention on what might be fueling the anti-Education-Department efforts.
If the department were to close, what problem would it solve? Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota introduced a bill that offers some clues, Zuckerman argued. Drawing on his experience as a former state director of Title I to drill down into the funding equation of the bill, Zuckerman argued there鈥檚 one telling break between the proposal and current law.
Whatever happens to the Education Department, there鈥檚 no question the political transition is looming large in educators鈥� minds when planning for the year ahead. Just look at Larry Ferlazzo鈥檚 9 Education Predictions for 2025 or Peter DeWitt and Michael Nelson鈥檚 鈥�11 Critical Issues Facing Education at Home and Abroad in 2025鈥� for some less than optimistic forecasting.
