Americans are living in unprecedented times. Donald Trump was re-elected to the presidency on Nov 5, 2024, making him the second president in American history who will have served two non-consecutive terms and the first president to have been convicted of multiple felonies. For many educators, the prospect of another Trump presidency induces anxiety about how his policies might affect their students and careers. Here are some ways that Shakespeare teaching and ELA classrooms could be impacted over the next four years.
Censoring Shakespeare
In 2023, Florida educators were required to censor their Shakespeare units by only teaching excerpts due to state legislation that banned classroom materials with “depictions of sexual conduct.” This decision followed the “Don’t Say Gay” laws passed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. While the legislation did not intentionally target Shakespeare, educators had to make difficult choices about which parts of their curriculum might cost them their jobs. This pressure to eviscerate lesson plans and police class discussions could become a federal norm if the incoming administration follows through on its education policy promises.
Project 2025, a document created by right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation, aims to push several specific educational policies now that we have a conservative president-elect. Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 during his campaign, but CNN reports that at least 140 people from his previous administration helped draft the plan, suggesting its policies could become a reality in his second term. According to PEN America, an organization that aims to protect free expression in literature and education, Project 2025 plans to impose legislation that will create “a greater climate of censorship and self-censorship on schools and college campuses, and silence educators and students—all on a national level.” Since Shakespeare often employs sexual innuendo and a critical approach to his work includes tackling complex topics such as race, gender, immigration, and colonialism, Shakespeare teachers will likely be negatively impacted by this shift towards censorship.
Banning Diverse Voices
At myShakespeare, we often suggest putting Shakespeare’s original works in conversation with modern texts that share similar themes. In our blog post “4
Contemporary Texts to Teach with Shakespeare,” we recommend pairing The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas with Romeo and Juliet to discuss love and violence, and Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds with Macbeth to explore complex relationship dynamics. Both of these titles have been placed on banned books lists in recent years. According to Pen America, book bans have reached a historic high, with over 10,000 bans recorded in the 2023-2024 school year alone. The organization notes that the books being targeted “overwhelmingly include books with people and characters of color (44%) and books with LGBTQ+ people and characters (39%)...and depict topics young people confront in the real world, including grief and death, experiences with substance abuse, suicide, depression and mental health concerns, and sexual violence.” Book bans have been put in place in 43 states over the last three school years, with especially high rates in states like Florida, Texas, Iowa, and Wisconsin.
Book bans and other forms of censorship are being pushed by legislators empowered by Trump’s 1776 Commission, established by a 2020 executive order to promote “patriotic education.” The order seeks to eliminate diverse literary voices and make dominant a single, approved narrative that excludes marginalized groups, ostracizing students from the curriculum by ignoring their cultures and identities. Book bans not only harm students but also create stress in the classroom, making teaching more difficult. A 2023 study found that “Eighty-seven percent of educators reported that they personally believe that book bans are rarely or never justified,” and, “nearly two-thirds of educators (63%) indicated that conversations around banned books are impacting their teaching.”
Targeting Education Funds
Potential changes to educational funding under another Trump presidency are vast and complex, with experts uncertain of how many of his ambitious promises will be realized. However, with a Republican majority in both the House and Senate, much of the incoming administration's policy agenda is potentially achievable. Trump has proposed eliminating the Department of Education, which provides funding for underserved schools, special education services for students with disabilities, and civil and disability rights protections. While he advocates for increasing “school choice” through programs like student vouchers that fund private and charter schools, he also intends to defund schools that teach content that his platform has deemed unAmerican. In an October interview with Fox News, Trump was asked how he would handle schools that teach that America was “built off the backs of slaves on stolen land” if he succeeds in shifting all educational policy decisions to state governments. “We don’t send them money,” Trump responded. “We would save half of our budget.”
This kind of targeted defunding will not only seriously harm students, but could also slash teacher pay and benefits, making an already demanding and undervalued career all the more unsustainable. According to Politico, “Trump also calls for making significant cuts to administrative personnel and [ending] teacher tenure,” which he plans to enforce by withholding funds from schools who resist these changes. Additionally, EdSource reported on Trump’s plan to create “a new credentialing agency” that will only certify teachers who he believes “embrace patriotic values and understand that their job is not to indoctrinate children, but to educate them.” These proposed changes could fundamentally reshape American education, making it extremely difficult for schools to provide equitable opportunities to students and for educators to effectively do their jobs.
Alienating Students
Trump has frequently accused teachers of indoctrination, often referring to addressing ideas that conservative policy makers have categorized as Critical Race Theory (CRT). Educators have long pointed out that CRT, an intellectual framework for understanding systemic racism, is not typically taught at the K-12 level. The term has been co-opted by right-wing pundits and used as a blanket identifier for any classroom discussions of social justice issues or anti-racist practices. We at myShakespeare advocate for a culturally sustaining approach to Shakespeare pedagogy (which you can read more about here). This framework requires an inclusive curriculum, the application of critical lenses, and a willingness to confront systems of oppression. Under Trump’s vision for education policy, any hint of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy would be labeled as CRT, further alienating students from literature and stripping them of agency over their learning.
As news about the incoming administration continues to roll in, including Trump’s pick of billionaire World Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon for Secretary of Education, teacher unions and educational rights organizations are preparing to fight these policy proposals. A statement released by the National Education Association responded to McMahon’s nomination, saying, “Donald Trump is showing that he could not care less about our students’ futures.” The NEA went on to echo the sentiment of many parents, educators, and educational organizations at this time, adding, “Parents and educators will stand together to support students and reject the harmful, outlandish, and insulting policies being pushed by the Trump administration. They will make their voices heard.”
