GOP education platform promises more state-led K-12 options for parents, children

The Republican National Convention gets underway Monday, and the GOP has a fresh, simplified K-12 education platform aimed at giving more control to states and parents.

The platform also seeks to invalidate the attempt by President Joe Biden to redefine Title IX discrimination protections to include gender identity.

That radical redefinition has led to complaints about transgender men competing against women and girls in K-12 and university athletics, as well as promoting transgender conflicts in school restrooms and locker rooms.

Former President Donald Trump, if elected president in November, said he would turn the “Department of Education back to the states.”  

Appearing with The Lion’s Chris Stigall, Trump said that the GOP education program will cost less than half of what the federal government now spends on K-12 schools, while students will “get a real education out of it.” 

“You know, we’re at the bottom of every list [academically], except we spend more per pupil than any other country,” Trump told Stigall. 

In fact, the U.S. spent more than any of the 40 developed countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ($19,973 per pupil), except tiny Luxembourg, said the Education Data Initiative. 

Luxembourg, it should be noted, has a population smaller than the District of Columbia. 

And U.S. test scores are statistically tied near the bottom with four other OECD states, with only Turkey, Mexico, Costa Rica and Columbia posting worse results, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. 

The Republican platform promises to reverse those test scores, in part, by supporting universal school choice. 

“School choice is a big deal, actually,” Trump told Stigall. 

For the Trump-led GOP, choice means giving homeschooling options the same financial support as other education choices. 

“Republicans believe families should be empowered to choose the best Education for their children. We support Universal School Choice in every State in America. We will expand 529 Education Savings Accounts and support Homeschooling Families equally,” said the GOP Platform for 2024. 

In the hands of the states, that means some may do better than others, said Trump.   

“Some won’t do as good, and some won’t do very good at all, because they’ll run it like they run it anyway. You know who I’m talking about,” added Trump.  

New York, for example, spends $33,440 per pupil on K-12 education, reports EducationData.org, while NCES pegs the Empire State as one of 15 states in the U.S. with below average student performance. 

The Republican platform will also put an emphasis on preparing students to enter the workforce, in line with education initiatives from states such as Arkansas and Florida.  

“Our Education System must prepare students for successful lives and well-paying jobs,” said the GOP education plank’s opening paragraph. 

Other priorities outlined in the new platform include dumping the tenure system for teachers, providing merit pay for the best teachers and promoting curriculum for civic engagement with an emphasis on “America’s Founding Principles and Western Civilization.”  

At the same time, the platform is adamant about rejecting “leftwing propaganda.”  

“We will defund schools that engage in inappropriate political indoctrination of our children using Federal Taxpayer Dollars,” says the GOP. 

The platform will also support traditional conservative priorities, such as the First Amendment right to pray and practice religion at all schools. 

As to Biden’s Title IX gambit, the platform is unambiguous:  

“5. Republicans Will End Left-wing Gender Insanity 

“We will keep men out of women’s sports, ban Taxpayer funding for sex change surgeries, and stop Taxpayer-funded Schools from promoting gender transition, reverse Biden’s radical rewrite of Title IX Education Regulations, and restore protections for women and girls.” 

Trump was clear as well. He told The Lion that restoring Title IX would be a Day One priority, calling the Biden ideology on transgenderism “sick.”  

“It’s so bad for women. It’s so demeaning to women. But we’re going to handle it. We’re going to end it…. First day, I will write it up: ‘No more men competing in women’s sports.’ I’ll write it right off the books,” promised Trump.