It’s time to talk about what Project 2025 would mean for our schools

Senator Dayna Polehanki, Chairwoman of the Michigan Senate Majority Committee and the Senate Education Committee, explains the impact Trump’s Project 2025 would have on education in Michigan.

Having been a public school teacher for nearly 20 years, I know that for many educators who work so hard to keep politics out of their classrooms last What they want to do is make noise about an election. But I’m speaking out because former President Trump’s Project 2025 agenda will have a direct impact on educators and children in Michigan, and it’s time for all of us – teachers, students and parents – to pay attention.

I never thought I would give up my career as a teacher. I loved teaching high school English and I loved my students. But when Trump was elected and I saw him devaluing and threatening public education here in Michigan, it pushed me off the sidelines and led me to run for an open seat in the Michigan Senate.

In the Senate, I had a front row seat to what Trump did and tried to do with our education system during his time in office.

Trump appointed one of his billionaire donors, Betsy DeVos, to head the Department of Education, even though she had no experience in public education and had pushed for years to direct taxpayer money to private and religious schools. Together, Trump and DeVos worked Year after year, billions in education funding are cut, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is canceled, freeze Pell Grants and undercut the ability of teachers’ unions to represent their members. We are still rebuilding the damage done by Trump and DeVos caused.

Now, as acting chairman of the Michigan Senate Education Committee, I have read every page of the education section of Trump’s 920-page Project 2025 agenda – and unfortunately, I can tell you, it is worse than anything we have seen from Trump along the way have his first term in office.

Project 2025—written by Trump is closest Advisor And at least 140 former employees – would address educational inequality across Michigan worse and undo the progress we have worked so hard to make. I don’t need to tell my fellow educators why Project 2025’s goal of completely abolishing the Department of Education is a bad idea. Or whatj universal school vouchers – which Michiganders have twice mostly Rejection at the ballot box would be a catastrophe for our state.

Trump’s Extreme Agenda Would End Head Start – Which May 34th% of rural counties rely on child care and preschool in Michigan; cut more than 20 billion dollars in federal support for the nation’s most vulnerable students; and end the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program entirely. Let me be clear: Trump would destroy our public education system and make it harder for students to get the support they need to succeed. The stakes for our children could not be higher.

Fortunately, Michiganders who care about public education have another choice in this election: Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Throughout her career, Vice President Harris has fought to make higher education more affordable, ensure parents can afford quality child care and preschool for their children, and end the disproportionate burden of student loan debt. As vice president, she helped realize the largest single investment in public education in American history, providing nearly $170 billion in student loan debt relief for nearly 5 million borrowers, making record investments in HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions, and the Number of students to increase maximum Pell Grant award by $ 900 – the biggest increase in more than a decade.

And as a former high school social studies teacher and football coach with more than 15 years of experience, we can trust that Governor Walz will put education at the forefront as Vice President. As governor of Minnesota, he signed bills to guarantee free breakfast and lunch to every student and reduce costs for state colleges and universities.

Teachers, the choice in this election is clear. As you prepare to cast or mail your absentee ballot or vote in person between October 26th and Election Day on November 5th, remember that the future of our next generation of Michigan students is on the ballot.

Related: Guide to voting in 2024 in Michigan