By Bianca Quilantan

DAY ONE — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to unleash a slew of education-related executive orders today.

— Trump aides briefed Republican leaders Sunday about his plans, which will include reversing President Joe Biden’s efforts to bolster diversity, equity and inclusion across the federal government. Fox News Digital reported Trump is expected to sign more than 200 executive actions.

— “We are about to get our country back and our democracy back,” Stephen Miller, a top Trump aide, said of the executive orders at a rally in downtown D.C. on Sunday. “We're not going to let the radical left indoctrinate our children into believing there's 435 genders because President Trump knows there are men and there are women and it's not up to you whether you're a man or a woman."

— On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly threatened to pull funding from schools that he says teach “critical race theory” and vowed to bar transgender students from women’s sports on Day One. At his Sunday pre-inauguration rally, Trump again promised "to stop the destructive and divisive diversity, equity and inclusion mandates," "restore patriotism to our schools," and "get critical race theory and transgender insanity the hell out of our schools."

"And always remember, this is so easy, this will be done tomorrow, we will keep men out of women's sports," Trump said.

— The president-elect is widely expected to quickly issue an executive order that would scrap Biden’s order directing federal agencies to implement discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Americans. The Free Press on Sunday reported that Trump will sign an expansive executive order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

The order would define sex as male and female, based on sex assigned at birth, and would apply to schools, passports, personnel records and prisons, according to the outlet. Trump's action would also address the use of pronouns that match a person's gender identity.

— “I think we can expect President Trump to revoke every positive executive order that the Biden administration released to uplift and protect the transgender community,” said Caius Willingham, a senior policy advocate at the nonprofit Advocates for Trans Equality. “We also highly suspect that the Trump administration is going to issue an executive order redefining sex, and that has pretty big implications for Title IX.”

—Title IX is a federal law that bars sex-based discrimination. While legal challenges over the action are expected from civil rights groups, the order comes as a federal court this month struck down a Title IX rule from the Biden administration that aimed to bolster discrimination protections on gender identity and sexual orientation.

— National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues said she expects the Trump administration to move quickly on his Title IX campaign promises because “frankly, that's kind of an easier lift for them to be able to influence based on the levers they immediately have access to.”

— But she expressed optimism that Trump — and the GOP-controlled Congress — will address other key education priorities, like mental health issues kids face, the impact of social media, the literacy crisis and student outcomes.

— “For all the skepticism that we hear about Linda McMahon, I don't hate the fact that we're going to have a U.S. Secretary of Education that's really focused on workforce development and developing pathways and preparing our kids to be competitive in a global economy,” Rodrigues said. “We've had a lot of folks that are so concerned about maintaining the status quo in the system and even strengthening it instead of innovating."

— Trump at his rally also gave McMahon a shout out. "I said, Linda, I'm making you the Secretary of Education. But if you do a great job, you will put yourself out of a job because you're going to be sending it back to the states," he said. "And she's fantastic, and her staff, which has been largely hired, is fantastic."

Here’s your POLITICO breakdown of other Day One promises Trump could make good on.

IT’S MONDAY, JAN. 20. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. It’s Trump’s second Inauguration Day. And the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Ohio State Buckeyes will meet tonight in the college football national championship game. Who are you rooting for?

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SCHWINN GETS DEPUTY EDUCATION SECRETARY — Former Tennessee schools chief Penny Schwinn will serve as deputy secretary at the Education Department, POLITICO’s Irie Sentner reports.

— “Penny has a strong record of delivering results for children and families,” Trump said in a statement. “A former teacher herself, Penny became the founding principal of a charter school, because she believes in the power of School Choice, and is committed to delivering the American Dream to the next Generation by returning Education BACK TO THE STATES.”

— Schwinn would bring extensive K-12 experience to the department and would be stepping into the role Cindy Marten has helmed during the Biden administration. Schwinn has served as the Tennessee Education Department commissioner and held several roles at the Texas Education Agency. She was also Delaware’s assistant Education secretary.

—She is a strong proponent of school choice, but she also started her career as a Teach for America corps member in Baltimore, founded a California charter school and was a member of former University of Florida President Ben Sasse’s cabinet.

— Schwinn received praise for her nomination to the post. “Penny is a true conservative with a brilliant mind for education,” Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee wrote on X. “Tennessee benefited from her service & now our country will.”

 — But there was also some surprise about the choice, Chalkbeat reported. The conservative Tennessee Star highlighted her conflicts with a Moms for Liberty chapter over a state “critical race theory” ban and her affiliation with people in the Never Trump movement.

“If anybody looked into her background, they would say she was not a fit for this administration,” JC Bowman, executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee and a critic of Schwinn, told Chalkbeat. “So I didn’t see it coming. Whoever vetted her needs to be vetted.”

OTHER KEY APPOINTMENTS — May Mailman, formerly the legal director of Independent Women’s Forum, will serve as deputy assistant to the president and senior policy strategist. She previously served in the first Trump administration.

POTENTIAL DOGE PERSONNEL SHAKE-UP — Vivek Ramaswamy could withdraw from working with the Department of Government Efficiency ahead of his bid for Ohio governor, which he intends to formally announce by the last week in January, POLITICO’s Adam Wren reports.

— Ramaswamy’s potential exit could upend DOGE, which aims to reduce government spending by up to $2 trillion by July 4, 2026. The former Republican presidential candidate informed members of the transition that he planned to run for governor following the election. His decision accelerated when Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine passed over Ramaswamy for his own Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to replace Vice President-elect JD Vance in the Senate on Friday.

— Of the two DOGE leaders, Ramaswamy has made the most public remarks about education. He has asserted that education should be funded by state and local governments, “not the feds,” and returning that responsibility to the states is part of a “key solution to our federal deficit problem.”

ANOTHER COURT LOSS FOR DACA — The Fifth Circuit on Friday partially blocked the Biden administration’s rules for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, an Obama-era program that has provided work authorization and deportation protections for undocumented people who were illegally brought to the United States as children.

The appeals court ruled that the Biden regulations that sought to strengthen DACA protections are unlawful, Reuters reported. But the court said that the lower court’s nationwide injunction should be limited only to Texas.

SCOTUS TO TAKE UP OPT OUT CASE — The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to weigh in on a battle over whether public schools must give parents an opportunity to opt their children out of certain lessons on gender and sexuality.

The parents suing argue that not giving them advanced notice or an opportunity to opt out of certain lessons burdens their First Amendment rights that protect their religious exercise.

— A group of parents sued the Montgomery County Board of Education, which oversees Maryland’s largest school district, after the board refused to allow parents to pull their elementary school children from lessons that included “storybooks celebrating gender transitions, Pride parades and same-sex playground romance,” according to their brief.

— The school board contends that parents’ free exercise of religion is not burdened by their children's exposure to lessons that their parents oppose on religious grounds since there is no evidence that they are being coerced to change their beliefs. Lower court rulings have sided with the school board because there is no evidence of indirect or direct coercion.

REPORTING PERIOD REOPENS — The Education Department on Friday announced it reopened the reporting period for institutions to submit data for gainful employment and financial value transparency reporting requirements until Feb. 18, after some schools were unable to meet the initial deadline of Jan. 15.

— Several education groups and lawmakers had previously urged the department to extend its deadline.

“Financial aid professionals — already stretched thin by last year’s chaotic FAFSA rollout — worked long hours to meet the federal deadline for gainful employment and financial value transparency reporting,” said NASFAA Interim President Beth Maglione in a statement. “Unfortunately, their efforts were stymied by a glitchy, slow, untested reporting platform and inadequate guidance from federal partners — issues that NASFAA raised for the Department six months ago.”

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— Warning over Donald Trump's 'catastrophic' plans to cut school funds: Newsweek

— China unveils 2024-2035 plan to build 'strong education nation': Reuters

— Taliban deputy tells leader there is no excuse for education bans on Afghan women and girls: The Associated Press

— On his way out the door, a top Biden official has worries: USA Today

— On eve of CFP title game, some college players ask: What would it would look like to be employees?: The Associated Press

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