On January 29, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order entitled "Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling," aimed at dismantling the "radical, anti-American…echo chamber[s]" he contends public schools have become. The primary objectives of Wednesday’s executive order are removing "gender ideology" and "discriminatory equity ideology" from K-12 classrooms and providing students a "patriotic education."
The order requires, in part, that Cabinet members develop an "Ending Indoctrination Strategy" to inform the administration’s recommendations and plans for K-12 education nationwide. The order directs the secretaries of Defense, Health and Human Services, and Education, along with the attorney general, to present the strategy document to Trump by April 29, 2025.
While the order does not appear to require immediate action by K-12 districts or school personnel (although impending compliance efforts are foreshadowed), it sets forth the Trump administration’s plans for the future of public education, and, importantly, directs certain federal agencies to examine eliminating funding for schools that advance or promote certain prohibited ideologies.
What the Order Says About Gender Ideology
Echoing a prior executive order espousing the policy of the Trump administration that there are only two sexes — male and female — the president defined "gender ideology" as the idea that "there is a vast spectrum of genders that are disconnected from one’s sex." Wednesday’s order built upon that definition and directed various political stakeholders to eliminate federal funding for schools that "directly or indirectly support or subsidize the instruction, advancement, or promotion of gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology."
The order aims to eliminate this ideology from K-12 curriculum, instruction, programs, activities, teacher education, certification, licensing, employment, and training.
It directs attorneys general and law enforcement personnel to "file appropriate actions against K-12 teachers and school officials who violate the law by," among other things, "unlawfully facilitating the social transition of a minor student." Examples of those laws include Title VI and Title IX. Social transition is defined as "the process of adopting a 'gender identity' or 'gender marker' that differs from a person’s sex." Trump provided several examples of actions or behaviors that may now be grounds for legal action:
- Providing psychological or psychiatric counseling or treatment.
- Using a person’s preferred name or pronouns.
- Using the term "nonbinary" to describe a minor.
- Permitting use of "intimate facilities and accommodations such as bathrooms or locker rooms" or participation in athletics or extracurricular activities in accordance with one’s gender identity.
The executive order specifically stated that social transition does not include "chemical or surgical mutilation," the phrase used by the Trump administration to refer to gender-affirming medical care. A separate executive order intended to halt federal support for such procedures for individuals under age 19 was signed last Tuesday.
The order also allows withholding of federal funding from any district or school determined to have "directly or indirectly" supported or subsidized a student’s social transition, including through teachers or staff or by "deliberately concealing [a] minor’s social transition from the minor’s parents."
On the topic of parents' rights, Trump’s order specifically prohibits "interference with a parent’s Federal statutory right to information regarding school curriculum, records, physical examinations, surveys, and other matters." This means school staff would be required to share a student’s preferred name or pronouns (or even the fact that a student has made such a request) with parents, even if that disclosure is against the student’s will.
The order also invites legal action against any teacher or school official found to be promoting "gender ideology" by "unlawfully practicing medicine by offering diagnoses and treatment without the requisite license."
What the Order Says About Discriminatory Equity Ideology
The order also aims to eliminate what it describes as discriminatory equity ideology from K-12 education by withholding federal funding from schools and districts found to be advancing or endorsing it.
The order defines this as "an ideology that treats individuals as members of preferred or disfavored groups, rather than as individuals, and minimizes agency, merit, and capability in favor of immoral generalizations," including assumptions or claims that:
- Members of one race, color, sex, or national origin are morally or inherently superior to members of another race, color, sex, or national origin.
- An individual, by virtue of the individual’s race, color, sex, or national origin, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.
- An individual’s moral character or status as privileged, oppressing, or oppressed is primarily determined by the individual’s race, color, sex, or national origin.
- An individual, by virtue of the individual’s race, color, sex, or national origin, should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment to achieve diversity, equity, or inclusion.
- The United States is fundamentally racist, sexist, or otherwise discriminatory.
The order spells out additional assumptions and claims, which it contends constitute prohibited "discriminatory equity ideology."
Order Reestablishes Commission to Promote 'Patriotic Education'
Wednesday’s order signaled that a renewed emphasis will be placed on providing "patriotic education" in K-12 schools. Trump defined this type of education as a presentation of American history focused on:
- An accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring, and ennobling characterization of America’s founding and foundational principles.
- A clear examination of how the United States has admirably grown closer to its noble principles throughout its history.
- The concept that commitment to America’s aspirations is beneficial and justified.
- The concept that celebration of America’s greatness and history is proper.
To that end, the order reestablished the president’s advisory 1776 Commission with a stated purpose to "promote patriotic education." The commission (which, once assembled, will be housed within the Department of Education) will:
- Develop and implement an award to celebrate student knowledge of American history.
- Coordinate and broadcast biweekly lectures on the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding during calendar year 2026.
- Facilitate and promote private and civic activities to increase public knowledge of the 250th anniversary of American independence.
The order also requires active monitoring and school-level enforcement of a 2005 law which requires each federally funded educational institution to hold an educational program on the U.S. Constitution on September 17 of each year.
Recommendations for K-12 Administrators
Although school districts are not required to make any immediate changes as a result of this executive order, the Education Industry Team at Parker Poe will closely monitor emerging developments to advise education stakeholders on next steps. For instance, we can expect publication of the order’s requisite Ending Indoctrination Strategy within the next three months, and we can anticipate legal challenges to this and other executive actions impacting public education.
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