President Trump signed an executive order to prohibit federal funds from going to K-12 public schools that teach critical race theory (CRT) or gender issues.
The order, which could quickly face legal challenges, “prohibits federal funding of the indoctrination of children which includes radical gender ideology and critical race theory in the classroom.”
The Education secretary and Defense secretary — for schools run by the defense department — are ordered to create a strategy for ending “indoctrination in K-12 education” within 90 days.
The order also reinstates the 1776 Commission Trump created in his first term, telling all executive agencies to “prioritize the advancement of patriotic education.”
CRT, which is typically taught at the collegiate and postgraduate level, has been around for decades and holds that race is a social construct embedded in American institutions.
But in his order, Trump used the example of the Albemarle County School District in Virginia, which the administration says created an “anti-racism” policy that taught a student “her achievement was based on her race,” alleging the incident was a result of CRT.
It is unclear what the criteria will be for the Department of Education to determine if a school is teaching CRT.
Numerous red states have already banned CRT in public schools or have introduced bills to do so.
The order also goes after “radical gender ideology” and instructs the attorney general to work with state attorneys general and local district attorneys to “file actions against teachers and school officials who sexually exploit minors or practice medicine without a license through ‘social transition’ practices.”
Trump uses examples such as a school district in Virginia requiring teachers to use a “student’s preferred name and pronouns” and one in Wisconsin that allegedly adopted a policy to “disrupt the gender binary.”
While the order threatens federal funding to K-12 schools, only around 10 percent of public school funding comes from the federal government, with most of the money to schools received from state and local governments.
“On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children,” Trump said previously.
The president is also signing other executive orders that support school choice programs and crack down on foreign students who committed crimes during pro-Palestinian protests last year.
All these actions come before Trump’s Education secretary nominee, Linda McMahon, has even had her confirmation hearing.