by Amanda Head
As millions of American kids head back to school this fall, the era of federal bureaucrats pushing liberal ideology, race policies, and endless red tape has come to an end.
Under President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon, the administration has delivered a hard reset: ripping DEI out of the system, restoring merit and biological reality, empowering parents and states, and redirecting taxpayer dollars toward actual learning instead of political indoctrination.
Elimination of DEI and race-based preferences
The Education Department under McMahon has made major strides in eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and race-based preferences across federal education programs.
Officials removed or archived hundreds of DEI-related guidance documents, reports and training materials shortly after the Trump administration took office last year. Billions of dollars in grants previously supporting what the department called divisive and discriminatory efforts were canceled or redirected, including programs focused on addressing systemic racism.
Historic agreements with universities such as Columbia University and Brown University required the institutions to dismantle unlawful DEI programming, restore merit-based admissions and hiring practices, and end race preferences in scholarships and other decisions.
The department also reprogrammed discretionary funding from Minority-Serving Institution programs after the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded that race-based eligibility criteria violated the Constitution. McMahon has repeatedly stated that taxpayer dollars must advance merit and equal treatment rather than racial quotas or ideological agendas.
Such measures have formed a core part of the administration’s effort to refocus education on academic excellence and away from what officials describe as political indoctrination.
Restoring Title IX based on biological sex
On campus but outside the classroom, McMahon directed the department to enforce Title IX according to biological sex. The agency returned to the 2020 Title IX rule after a federal court vacated the prior administration’s regulations that expanded protections based on gender identity. Enacted in 1972, Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government.
Guidance clarified that sex-based rules apply to sports, bathrooms and intimate facilities. A settlement with the University of Pennsylvania restored titles to female athletes and ended competition based on gender identity. McMahon later welcomed a Supreme Court decision affirming states’ ability to keep males out of women’s sports.
Returning education to the states and cutting federal micromanagement
One of the most pivotal changes toward citizen empowerment came as the McMahon-led department granted “Returning Education to the States” waivers that give state leaders greater control over federal education dollars.
“What a travesty it is that Americans have invested $3 trillion in a federal Department of Education meant to improve student outcomes, and yet only 30% of our students can read or do math proficiently,” McMahon said about the initiative at a White House Rose Garden event Monday.
“This is why President Trump demanded a hard reset to our education system, and under his leadership, we are delivering it. We are taking very deliberate and thoughtful steps to return education to the states.
Iowa received the first waiver, in early 2026, consolidating funding streams and freeing nearly $8 million from compliance costs for classroom use over four years. Louisiana followed, consolidating more than $18 million through 2029. By summer 2026, six states held the waivers, redirecting over $100 million away from federal requirements.
A record number of states also gained Ed-Flex authority, allowing local districts to bypass certain rules without prior federal approval. McMahon has described the changes as shifting key decisions from Washington bureaucrats to parents, educators and local leaders.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are restoring parents’ sacred role as the first decision makers in their children’s lives. Children belong to their parents, not the federal government,” McMahon also said at the Rose Garden event with Trump.
“We’re putting the parents back in charge,” the president said. “They’re the ones that love our children. They’re the ones that should be in charge.”
Major expansion of school choice, charters, and evidence-based priorities
Another action reorienting education toward the individual student was the passage of Trump’s Working Families Tax Cuts Act, which established the Education Freedom Tax Credit, described by the administration as the largest national expansion of education freedom in history.
Taxpayers can claim a credit of up to $1,700 for donations to scholarship-granting organizations that cover tuition, tutoring, books and other expenses at public, private or charter schools. Nearly 52 million students are eligible, and more than 30 states have opted in or indicated they will participate.
The department also awarded a record $500 million through the Charter Schools Program. Officials redirected funds once tied to DEI programs toward evidence-based literacy instruction grounded in the science of reading, workforce training and direct classroom support. McMahon has emphasized that these investments prioritize measurable student results and restore parents as the primary decision-makers in their children’s education as the new school year begins.
Civil rights enforcement for actual discrimination, merit and safety
The department rescinded disparate-impact provisions from its Title VI regulations in 2026, requiring evidence of intentional discrimination rather than statistical disparities alone. New guidance directs schools to apply discipline even-handedly without considering race to achieve racial balancing. Subsequently, the department’s Office for Civil Rights opened investigations into districts, including one in Fayetteville, Arkansas, that allegedly instructed staff to factor race into disciplinary decisions.
Officials said the changes restore equal treatment and free teachers to maintain order without federal pressure based solely on demographic outcomes.
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Amanda Head is a reporter for Just the News.
