Sonja Shaw, board president for the Chino Valley Unified School District, has gained national attention for her efforts to push for parent notifications from school staff should their child express a desire to change their gender. She received death threats, but the policy has so far withstood legal challenges with minimal tweaks and its core goal intact.
Trump, with great bluster, spoke multiple times on the campaign trail about eliminating the Department of Education. As President – and through new Education Secretary Linda McMahon – that goal more often recognized that the DOE, as a creation of Congress, would require congressional approval to abolish.
Getting rid of the DOE would be a big fight. Weakening will be less of one, though Democrat-appointed judges will no doubt present a challenge.
Trump’s EO states that McMahon shall “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the states and local communities.”
The federal government is not leaving the business of education entirely and will continue to oversee direct student loans and Pell grants, the Department says.
Control of education in California and other Democrat-run states will have its challenges, Shaw said on Washington Watch Friday. “Let’s be real: In states like California, that could be kind of nerve wracking for a lot of us here fighting the good fight,” she told show host Jody Hice.
In August 2023, Chino Valley Unified became the first school district in the Golden State to require schools to inform parents if their child requested to change their name, pronouns, or gender identity at school. State attorney general Rob Bonta quickly filed a lawsuit.
Last September the Superior Court of California in San Bernardino ruled that while schools were not mandated to notify parents of name or pronoun changes, they were required to inform parents if any official or unofficial school records related to their child had been changed. Bonta has since dropped his lawsuit.
“A lot of states are like California, right? We have some great ones, but we also have some horrific ones that have weaponized the Department of Education towards districts like ours that are trying to actually educate kids,” Shaw said.
The EO is good news for Christian parents, David Closson, director for Family Research Council’s Center for Biblical Worldview, told Hice.
The chances for recognition of the Creator and His Word are greater when influence is more local than federal, he explained.
“I do think there's a lot to be hopeful for with education as it's going to be returned to local communities,” he said.
“From kindergarten through 12th grade as a child, you will spend 16,000 hours in a classroom. We know one's worldview is heavily influenced and impacted by those hours that you're in a classroom. Those early years, those elementary school years, going into middle school, those years are absolutely pivotal for how you're going to think about what is right and wrong and how that's determined,” he added.
The merits of a merit-based system
A school district’s record should come into play in terms of how much control it’s actually given, Shaw said.
According to Shaw, Chino Valley spends $10,000 to $12,000 per student less than a neighboring California district yet has posted higher test scores than that district and is seeing enrollment increases.
Shaw praised the efforts of Kevin Kiley, a U.S. House Republican from California’s Third District and, while somewhat guarded about new education authority for her state, expressed confidence in Trump to make this transition.
“I will say with President Trump, I don't think he's going to do something recklessly. I have hope that he is working with the experts who know how to do this, and I know Kevin Kiley's up there being a big advocate. It needs to be merit based because … let's be real.”
In the big picture, the change is necessary, Shaw said.
“I am excited about these changes because with DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] being put in place, we know some of that money was being put to watch a mailroom. I mean, there were so many things discovered that this money could have been going directly to our kids and it's not.”
DOGE has said it has terminated 89 contracts with $881 million and estimates 29 grants for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs have also been terminated. Critics contend the actual savings are less.
Trump administration figures show that since its inception in 1979, the DOE has spent more than $3 trillion – plus an additional $200 billion in additional COVID funding – but says that results do not show student achievement.
“Mathematics and reading scores are down in public schools, despite per-pupil spending having increase by more than 245% since the 1970s, indicating that more spending does not mean better education,” the administration writes. It notes:
- 13-year-olds’ mathematics scores are the lowest they have been in decades.
- 13-year-olds’ reading scores are the lowest since testing began over 30 years ago.
- Low-performing students are falling further behind.
- In 2023, 13 Baltimore, Maryland, high schools had zero students who tested proficient in mathematics.
Newsom’s sarcastic response
California Governor Gavin Newsom blasted President Trump's executive order. “This overreach needs to be rejected immediately by a co-equal branch of government … or was Congress eliminated by this executive order, too?” he wrote.
In Shaw's opinion, Newsom’s record makes him unqualified to comment.
“Newsom put his kids in private school when [during COVID] he shut down schools here in California for the majority of the children," she pointed out. "He also sued our district and other districts for just wanting parental involvement.
"So of course, he's going to be opposed to something that's going to benefit our children because he's never been successful at helping our educational system here in California.”
