To the Editor:
As a former special education paraprofessional during COVID-19 and a current school board member responsible for voting on budgets, I was disappointed by 鈥渆ducation policy maven鈥� Rick Hess鈥� flippant account of Project 2025鈥檚 impact on schools in his opinion essay 鈥�The Great Project 2025 Freakout鈥� (July 19, 2024).
Instead of dedicating nearly 25 percent of an essay to a walk down the conservative movement鈥檚 memory lane (with references to Hess鈥� childhood ), I encourage Hess to defend policy agendas by explaining policy, not reactions. In discussing block grants, for example, providing context for how little federal money goes to school districts might be useful.
Doing so would require research, and Hess repeatedly displaces actual analysis of Project 2025 policies with 鈥渉ot takes鈥� on Trump鈥檚 awareness of Project 2025, Miguel Cardona鈥檚 legacy, a JD Vance-like figure as a new education secretary, congressional majorities, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
The essay鈥檚 subtitle says, 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing especially scary in the Heritage Foundation鈥檚 education agenda.鈥� Without an account of the policies, how would he know?
Thankfully, the Education Week article 鈥�Project 2025 Would Dramatically Cut Federal Funds for 69传媒. Then What?鈥� (July 22, 2024) provides the data that Hess omits, and I encourage readers to review it.
Anne Demo
School Board Member
State College, Pa.
Anne Demo serves on the State College Area school district board of directors. This letter to the editor is her own and not a statement by the board.
