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Scrambling Public Education: What Will Happen in the Next 100 Days?

Vanessa Hall
Apr 30
3 min read

Updated: May 6

Red and beige carnival theme with text: "2025 Carnival of Chaos: First 100 Days in Public Education. Are we having fun yet?" Silhouettes of rides.

Let me off this Crazy Carnival Ride!

The first 100 days of the Trump Administration have been a chaotic carnival of harmful Executive Orders (142 so far), irresponsible mass firings of federal employees (more than 121,000), over 200 lawsuits, increased concentration of power under the executive branch, mass deportations of immigrants without constitutionally required due process, and an unknown number of American citizens caught up in these efforts, including children and cancer patients.

The stock market has been a roller coaster ride of dramatic ups and downs. Prices continue to rise, and due to the trade war Tilt-a-Whirl, shelves are emptying of goods and online prices are skyrocketing. Courts around the nation are playing bumper cars with lawsuits and injunctions against the Trump Administration actions. The President’s popularity is in freefall like the Kings Dominion Drop Tower.

The full impact of these first 100 days on students, staff, and families in public schools is yet unknown, but the Trump Administration has threatened funding of special education, meals, and Title 1 programs that support our most vulnerable students. Frequently, the Trump Administration has used the funding for these programs as leverage to force other unpopular, and possibly illegal, actions against the rights of LGBTQIA students, Title IX protections, state regulations, and decades long efforts to make schools inclusive and equitable to increasingly diverse populations of families.

Nowhere has this been more evident than the attacks on trans students and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in K-12 public schools. However, more recently, he has turned his eyes on higher education with similar initiatives to remove DEI and force politics into the classroom.

His attempt to strong-arm Harvard into sweeping, politically motivated reforms failed miserably. For non-compliance, the Trump Administration threatened Harvard’s $2.2 billion in grants and contracts, which contribute to groundbreaking innovations in science and health. In response, Harvard went public with the Administration’s demand letter, and sued the Administration, placing the Trump Administration back on the kiddie rides–at a disadvantage against all of higher education, many of whom banded together to oppose the Trump reforms:

“We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight. However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses.” – American Association of Colleges and Universities

A man in a suit appears to lift a large elephant overhead against a gray background, creating a surreal and humorous scene.

4 Public Education has tried to keep up with the first 100 days of the Trump Administration's efforts to defund, destabilize, and destroy public education in the nation. Please view our coverage here, as we experience the next 100 days:

4 Public Education will continue to keep you updated on impacts to our K-12 and higher education. Follow and support us, to keep in the know about federal, state, and local public education issues. May this chaotic carnival ride soon end so that we can find price, political, and personal stability.

Truthfully, seeing our nation through a funhouse mirror has not been flattering or fun for anyone.