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Trump signs orders on race and transgender policies in schools

One order reads “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” which aims to curb the discussion of race-related issues and gender identity.

Washington: US President Donald Trump signed several executive orders on Wednesday regarding hot-button topics in education — race, gender, and college campus protests — that were hardly ever out of Donald Trump’s mouth throughout his campaign.

One order, “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” would restrict race-related issues and gender identity in the classroom and create a commission to advance “patriotic education” that portrays the United States favorably.

“Imprinting anti-American, subversive, harmful, and false ideologies on our Nation’s children not only violates longstanding anti-discrimination civil rights law in many cases but usurps basic parental authority,” the directive says.

It also aims to prevent school policies that accommodate transgender students, such as forcing teachers to use pronouns corresponding to a student’s gender and limiting access to locker rooms by gender. However, since primary and secondary education are largely controlled by individual states, Trump has limited ability to shape school curricula and policies to his preferences.

The order nonetheless demands federal agencies produce a report within 90 days on actions he could take, such as by conditioning federal funding, to force adherence to his agenda. Trump and other Republicans have long decried so-called critical race theory (CRT), which rose to prominence amid the mass social movement that accelerated with the 2020 police killing of George Floyd.

Initially referring to an approach that looks at US history through the lens of racism, the term has become an ill-defined catchall for race-related topics in education. State-level bans against CRT have led to what critics say is a chilling effect around teaching anything race-related. Still, many Republicans maintain it is a needlessly divisive topic that makes white students feel guilty.

Another order Trump signed Wednesday—part of a flurry of executive actions in his first days as president—seeks to expand so-called school choice, in which students can receive public funding to attend non-public establishments. The approach is favored mostly by Republicans.

He also signed an order called “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,” which responds to the widespread protests on college campuses that erupted following the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.

The document targets vandalism on campuses and discrimination against Jewish students that occurred during the months-long demonstrations.

Source
NDTV

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