Presidential Message on American Education Week
A great country demands a great education system—one that prepares our children to lead, innovates, and secures a stronger future for America. This American Education Week, my Administration is committed to building an education system that empowers our students and families, prioritizes choice, and always pursues the good, the true, and the beautiful.
Since its creation in 1979, the Department of Education has spent over $3 trillion on “education” with virtually nothing to show for it. Instead of building a more literate country, seven out of ten eighth graders today cannot read proficiently. Instead of preparing future generations for careers in science and technology, math scores for 13-year-olds this year are at their lowest level in decades. Instead of building a better education system, unaccountable bureaucrats dictated what children learn, which left our students further behind than ever before. Schools designed for teaching became burdened by regulations and paperwork, and classrooms designed for discovery became laboratories for deranged social experiments, socialist political agendas, and divisive ideologies. This national disgrace ended on January 20, 2025.
By dismantling the Department of Education, my Administration has returned control of education to where it belongs—with States, local communities, and parents who are best equipped to meet the needs of their students. My Administration is also providing every available opportunity for parents to enrich the education of their children through individual choice. We are rooting out the poisonous influence of gender ideology, Critical Race Theory, and the hollow dogmas of so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion from the halls of our educational institutions and in their place, we are restoring truth, merit, and patriotism.
As we fix failures of the past, we are also looking forward to the future. With the support and leadership of First Lady Melania Trump, we are advancing artificial intelligence (AI) education for America’s youth and educators. Through the Nationwide Presidential AI Challenge, our students and teachers will cultivate the skills and understanding necessary to use and create the next generation of technology. And dozens of leading American businesses, non-profits, and educational institutions have stepped up to help our Nation win the AI race, committing billions of dollars of investment in AI education programs.
Every American student deserves a high-quality education. Through these actions, my Administration is restoring common sense to classrooms, returning real authority to parents, and building a generation of thinkers, builders, and leaders who are ready to carry our Nation forward. America’s Golden Age begins in the classroom, and by restoring the greatest education system in the world, we are building a stronger future for our culture, our children, and our beloved country.
