Educators and university leaders are on the edge of their seats as President-elect Trump makes his return to office with an aggressive posture toward K-12 and higher education.
Trump has threatened multiple times to take away funding from schools if they do not align with his views on subjects such as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and transgender rights.
That threat has left institutions holding their breath as they try to prepare with how to deal the hostility they could face for the next four years.
Trump has threatened to “tax endowments, impose budget reconciliation, and fine institutions ‘up to the entire amount of their endowment’ if they are perceived as having promoted ‘wokeism,’ [which] risks eroding academic freedom, institutional autonomy and the democratic purposes of higher education,” said Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities.
The federal government gives billions of dollars to colleges and universities every year, from grants to research funding to direct financial aid.
K-12 institutions receive a majority of their funding from state and local governments, while 7.6 percent came from the federal government in the 2019-2020 school year.
Congress controls the power of the purse, and next year’s GOP-majority House and Senate could be amenable to Trump’s goals.
Read more at TheHill.com
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