The federal policy changes related to schools since President Donald Trump took office in January have led nearly two-fifths of educators to rethink whether they want to stay in their current roles—showing a potential spillover effect from a uniquely volatile policy environment.
Even so, while 39% of teachers, principals, and district leaders said they’re now less likely to want to stay in their jobs for the next two years, a plurality (45%) said the federal policy environment has had no impact on their desire to continue in their current roles, according to a recent, nationally representative EdWeek Research Center survey. Sixteen percent of respondents said they are now more likely to want to stay.
Educators in the Northeast (49%), West (45%), and South (41%) were more likely than those in the Midwest (30%) to say federal policy changes since the start of the second Trump administration have made them less likely to want to stay in their jobs. Those in the Midwest (55%) were more likely than their colleagues in other regions to say federal policy has had no impact on their desire to stay in their current roles.
In addition, educators in larger school districts (with 10,000 or more students) were more likely than their counterparts in smaller districts to say the federal policy environment made them less likely to want to stay in their positions. A slight majority of large-district educators (51%) said federal policies have made them less likely to want to remain in their positions for the next two years, compared with 37% of educators in mid-size districts (2,500-9,999 students) and 34% of educators in small districts (fewer than 2,500 students).
The survey was administered from July 31 to Aug. 28, with 694 responses from teachers, principals, and district leaders.
While Trump took office pledging to “move education back to the states,” the Education Department that he’s shrunk by nearly half has also inserted itself more forcefully into state and local affairs since January.
It’s launched investigations into districts, state education departments, and athletic associations to compel them to bar transgender girls from girls’ sports and eradicate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Before court intervention, it tried to force every state and district to sign a certification disavowing “illegal DEI,” and it abruptly told schools that their time to spend remaining COVID-19 relief funds had passed, when they had earlier been given another year to spend the money.
As educators took the EdWeek Research Center survey, the Trump administration had just days before released the last of nearly $7 billion for teacher training, after-school programs, English-learner services, and more that it had held back for weeks. School districts had already built those funds into their budgets and scrambled to craft contingency plans.
Months before, the president had released a budget proposal to cut the Education Department budget by $12 billion and eliminate or consolidate more than 40 department programs. And his administration since the winter has terminated numerous grants, including for teacher training, research and data collection, and student mental health.
Educators weigh in on the impact of these policy changes
In open-ended, anonymous responses to the survey, educators largely lamented the uncertainty of federal funding.
“The not knowing from day to day what is going to change makes it difficult psychologically to want to remain,” one person wrote.
Another respondent added: “There is not enough money to do what we need to teach students all day. We already don’t get paid much, and them cutting off so much funding for programs we need is very, very bad.”
Others said the Trump administration’s push to restrict transgender students’ access to bathrooms and athletic teams that align with their gender identity and to revoke the longstanding policy that restricted immigration enforcement on school grounds has undermined educators’ ability to focus on teaching. Some said those efforts have “emboldened” students to be unkind to their peers and school staff.
“The impact of the negativity of the Trump administration reverberates through schools,” one respondent wrote. “The administration is normalizing meanness, which is trickling down to all aspects of society. Schools are left to pick up the pieces and manage the hate and harassment being normalized by politicians and their supporters.”
Educators who said the Trump administration’s policy changes have made them more likely to want to remain in their current roles for the next two years applauded efforts to “dismantle” the U.S. Department of Education and shared their hopes for more local control over education. Others said the administration has reduced schools’ focus on “woke” ideology and “social engineering,” and welcomed this change.
“The U.S. Department of Education should have been disbanded a long time ago. Trump is right in advocating for states to handle education budgets, and eliminating the overpaid staff at the federal level could improve efficiency,” one respondent wrote. “This approach has worked at the state level, so there was no need to establish the federal department in the first place.”
Another person said: “The less intervention the better. I want my local school board to make the decisions.”
Some respondents said they are now more likely to remain in their jobs because, despite their disagreement with federal policy changes, they feel responsible for the children they teach.
“I want to make a difference for children and families despite the cuts and indifference to what is needed for our future,” one person wrote.
Another said: “I am proud to be a consistent and reliable person during a state of uncertainty for many.”
Data analysis for this article was provided by the EdWeek Research Center. Learn more about the center’s work.
