Trump's Education Plan Leaves Kids, Parents to Suffer at the Mercy of the Market
Article/Op-Ed in USA Today
President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 21, 2025. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Oct. 26, 2025
Kevin Carey, writing in USA Today, warns that Trump’s proposed cuts to public-school funding could devastate K-12 systems already struggling with teacher shortages and resource inequities.
If you’re a parent, you may remember the struggle to find good, affordable child care and slots in preschool: waiting lists, eye-watering prices and a gnawing uncertainty about whether you found someplace safe and sound. Finally getting to kindergarten was a relief.
Slowly, and now quickly, public education is fragmenting into something that looks scarily like our dysfunctional child care system. The stress you felt for the first four years could last for 18.
At their best, public schools are a pillar of democracy. They anchor local communities and build common ties among people from different backgrounds. When we learn together as children, we can work together as colleagues and citizens.
Read more here.