WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump is ordering U.S. schools to stop teaching what he views as and other material dealing with race and sexuality or risk losing their federal money.
A separate plan announced Wednesday calls for aggressive action to fight , promising to prosecute offenders and revoke visas for international students found to be 鈥淗amas sympathizers.鈥�
Both plans were outlined in executive orders signed by Trump on Wednesday. The measures seek to fulfill some of the Republican president's around education, though it's unclear how much power he has to enact the proposals.
His order on K-12 schools declares that federal money cannot be used on the 鈥渋ndoctrination鈥� of children, including 鈥渞adical gender ideology and critical race theory.鈥� It says civil rights laws barring discrimination based on sex and race would be used to enforce the order, calling critical race theory an 鈥渋nherently racist policy.鈥�
Examples cited in the order include a policy at Harrisonburg City Public Schools in Virginia requiring teachers to use students' preferred names and pronouns. Another policy at Madison Metropolitan School District in Wisconsin says schools should 鈥渄isrupt the gender binary鈥� by teaching students to embrace different gender identities, according to the order.
The Education Department鈥檚 Office for Civil Rights investigates allegations of civil rights violations and can impose sanctions up to a total loss of federal money, though that penalty has almost never been used and must be approved by a judge.
The order unfairly tarnishes teachers and makes it harder for them to do their jobs, said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
鈥淭oday is a sad day because the Trump administration is doing exactly what it accuses others of: creating division and fear in classrooms across America,鈥� she said.
Trump also directs the education secretary to craft a strategy within 90 days to 鈥渆nd indoctrination in K-12 education.鈥� Trump has appointed billionaire professional wrestling mogul as his education chief, but her Senate confirmation hearing has not been scheduled.
During his campaign, Trump said he would sign an order 鈥渙n day one鈥� to cut federal money for schools that push critical race theory or other 鈥渋nappropriate鈥� content. The federal government provides billions of dollars to schools every year, though the vast majority of their money comes from state and local sources.
The measure taps into a wave of conservative anger that has taken aim at classroom lessons that some see as too liberal. A growing number of Republican states have adopted laws or rules of critical race theory or 鈥渄ivisive concepts鈥� in public schools and universities.
Opponents say the rules impose vague restrictions on teachers and create a chilling effect on discussions about history and other subjects.
The term 鈥渃ritical race theory鈥� is used by conservatives as a catchall for subjects they don鈥檛 want to be taught in the classroom, though, in reality, it refers to a complex academic and legal framework centered on the idea that racism is embedded in the nation鈥檚 systems.
Trey Walk, a researcher and advocate with Human Rights Watch, said students have a right to learn about how discrimination can be entrenched in law and society. 鈥淚f the US denies young people this knowledge, it has little hope of eradicating racism,鈥� he said.
Trump's plan to fight antisemitism would 鈥渕arshal all federal resources" and bring immediate action from the Justice Department to investigate and punish offenders on U.S. campuses. It calls for the deportation of nonresident aliens who 鈥渧iolate our laws,鈥� citing previous threats by Trump to revoke student visas for international students who attended pro-Palestinian protests.
Trump's action promises to 鈥減rotect law and order, quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.鈥�
It drew swift backlash from civil rights groups who said campus protests have mostly been peaceful and are protected by constitutional free speech rights.
Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the action is discriminatory and wrongly characterizes protesters as 鈥減ro-jihadist鈥� or 鈥減ro-Hamas.鈥�
鈥淭hese college students were Jewish, Muslim, Black, Palestinian and various other races who were simply protesting what they viewed as a genocide in Gaza,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淭hey are no different than the students who protested Vietnam or segregation or apartheid in South Africa.鈥�
Tensions over the Israel-Hamas war led to emotional demonstrations on U.S. campuses, including a wave of pro-Palestinian tent encampments that led to .
The Biden administration opened more than 100 investigations into alleged antisemitism and Islamophobia at schools and universities after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. A flurry of schools reached deals to settle the cases before Trump took office amid fears that he would issue heavier sanctions.
The White House on Wednesday also reinstated an order from Trump's first term establishing the 1776 Commission to promote 鈥減atriotic education鈥� in U.S. schools.
Biden and the commission's guide for teaching history. The guide played down America鈥檚 role in slavery and argued that the civil rights movement ran afoul of the 鈥渓ofty ideals鈥� espoused by the Founding Fathers. It was widely panned by historians, who said it was outdated and ignored decades of research.
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Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press鈥� education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP鈥檚 for working with philanthropies, a of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Collin Binkley And Zeke Miller, The Associated Press
