The Progress Pride flag flies half-mast outside Shorewood every June. The Black Lives Matter flag stays up year-round. These flags symbolize our school’s commitment to their students and efforts to be inclusive.
Donald Trump, our future president, has promised to make policies that may impact this inclusion. Though the results of the election were definitive on Nov. 6, 2024, Trump will not officially start his second term of presidency until Jan. 20, 2025. In a video from his website, he said “We (the US government) will cut funding for any school or program pushing Critical Race Theory, gender ideology, or other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children.” Federal funding would include any funds from the government given to public services such as education.
On a federal level, Trump also plans to remove the Department of Education. In a video clip from Forbes, Trump said “One of the first things I will be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington D.C. and sending all education work and education needs back to the states.” He is therefore getting rid of the federal funds coming from the department. He plans for Linda McMahon, a former cabinet member and wife to a former WWE member, to lead the department, although he is choosing to make education a state’s responsibility.
Forbes reported on Nov. 20 in an article by Mary Whitfill Roeloff that the department is responsible for “high-poverty K-12 schools used to hire teachers and otherwise support low-income communities, and the Office of Special Education Programs, which provides resources for disabled students through age 21.” The National Center of Education Statistics reported, “The percentage of students in a school who are eligible for FRPL (free or reduced-price lunch) can provide a substitute measure for the concentration of low-income students in the school” which means that high-poverty K-12 schools could be defined as a high number of students qualifying for FRPL.
Critics worry that removing this department would result in less funding for preschools or Head Start programs, making access to early childhood education difficult for low-income families. This change may cause a gap in knowledge between students because of their socioeconomic status (where people stand in a society financially).
The department was originally created by Congress in 1979. According to the U.S. Department of Education, one of its goals included “strengthen(ing) the Federal commitment to ensuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual,”(Dept. Of Ed). This implies that all students would be educated regardless of their social class, gender identity, etc.
Trump’s plans for policy and ideas of getting rid of the education that is “pushing inappropriate sexual content on our children” may lead to a change in sexual education.
This change shouldn’t impact health classes, however, according to Andrew Ely, one of the program’s teachers at Shorewood.
According to Ely, reducing federal funding will have little to no impact on Washington state’s requirements for teaching comprehensive sex ed. “I mean, the federal government hasn’t required, as of today, has never required comprehensive sexual health education for all of the states. So I guess I don’t have an immediate concern about Washington state,” Ely said.
Despite that, Ely still finds it important for students to use their voices especially when it comes to public policy. “It’s ultimately my job as a teacher to emphasize like, hey, you (students), we need to advocate for ourselves,” he said. Right now, Ely is not super concerned due to our state’s requirements to have comprehensive sex education.
“Comprehensive sexual health education is a public health preventative methodology, right? It prevents the negative health outcomes that we’re concerned about,” Ely said.
Replacing it with abstinence education has had evidence suggesting that it isn’t functional. The results of a study conducted by Kathrin Stranger Hall through the National Institute of Health showed that “increasing emphasis on abstinence education is positively correlated with teenage pregnancy and birth rates.” Correlation is not causation but this does show that some aspects of abstinence-only education may lead to the result.
Five days before the inauguration, a large chunk of the freshmen class will be participating in an advocating activity in their health classes.
“On January 15, you’re going to see 200 freshmen advocating for something based on their own values,” Ely said. Students in health classes will choose topics related to what they are learning about to advocate for.
Ely also explained that the best way for students to use their voice is to find other people with the same ideas as them so that they can show how big of an impact they have.
“There’s power in having ASB clubs that are recognized and operating independently,” Ely said. He referenced clubs centered around activism. “I mean, we have a Gender Sexuality Alliance club here at Shorewood, and there’s an immense amount of voice there. There’s the S.H.A.P.E. Club,” Ely said.
Ely believes that anyone with a voice should use it.
Said Ely: “Their voice does matter… if students are saying, ‘hey, this is what we need,’ it’s on us adults to respond to that, right?”
