The Oxford English Dictionary defines an oligarchy as a small group of people having control over a country, organization or institution. The effects of an oligarchic government on education range from limited access to quality education to control over the nationwide curriculum.
In the United States, the disparity between wealthy and under-resourced districts continues to widen. Under the guise of property tax policy, affluent areas receive much more federal and state funding than low-income districts. Along with the consequences of redlining, communities in the U.S. experience racial segregation and lower funding for health services, businesses, infrastructure, and education in predominantly black and brown communities.
According to NBC News reporters Jake Taylor and David Ingram, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos supported Donald Trump’s presidential race. Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post, prevented the editorial board from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris despite their support.
Since Trump’s inauguration, Musk has been a co-lead of Trump’s new administration advisory called the Department of Government Efficiency, and Zuckerberg changed Meta’s content moderation policies to mirror the incoming Republican administration.
On Dec. 13, 2024, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had a lot to say about the future of the U.S. government. “This is not just democrats versus republicans, conservatives versus liberals or progressives. It’s much deeper than that,” said Sanders. “What we are dealing with right now is that the billionaire class, which owns so much of our economy, which owns so much of our media, they are now moving aggressively to own our political system as well.”
Trump’s executive orders regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion, DEI, and the Department of Education directly attack underfunded communities and communities of color. According to the Associated Press, in February, Trump gave American schools and universities two weeks to eliminate DEI programs or risk losing federal funding.
Sonoma State Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer Karen Moranski said that Sonoma State strongly affirms its commitment as a welcoming campus community to all who seek a higher education. Moranski said, “Diversity, equity, inclusion, and access programs that comply with existing state and federal law remain permissible. We are making sure our programs remain in compliance as we continue to support them.”
She said that currently no Sonoma State grants have been rescinded at a state or federal level, but she anticipates that there may be changes in the quantity and type of grants in the future. Although state officials in California and Washington recognize that these executive orders have no changes to federal law, other schools across the country have been affected by this political threat.
According to KTVB News, Sarah Inama, a sixth-grade history teacher at Lewis and Clark Middle School in Meridian, Idaho faced administrative issues because of the signs posted in her classroom.
Despite the inclusionary signs being up for the past four years, school administration ordered her to take them down for violating district policy this past February, the same month Trump threatened to cut funding to schools promoting DEI.
The signs said, “In this room everyone is welcome, important, accepted, respected, encouraged, valued, equal,” and the other said, “Everyone is welcome here.”
School administration and district personnel told Inama that the phrase, “Everyone is welcome here,” is not something that everyone believes, making the sign a personal opinion which is prohibited on school grounds. Because district personnel told Inama to take the signs down by the end of the day, she did so, but after contemplation, she put the signs back up. “I don’t agree that this is a personal opinion, I feel like this is the basis of public education,” she said, “I can’t even wrap my head around what other differing view of it would be. I mean, except for something that’s exclusionary. So, ‘Everyone is welcome here’ really isn’t a personal statement, it’s non-discrimination.”
After Inama refused to take down her signs a second time, district higher-ups got involved. Chief Academic Officer Marcus Myers contacted Inama and highlighted the policies that he believed she was in violation of.
The policy said, “School property shall not be used by personnel for the advancement of individual beliefs. It is the desire of the District that the physical environment of District facilities be content neutral.”
Myers also highlighted Idaho law, The Dignity and Non-Discrimination in Public Education Act which said “Faculty members and other employees and students in public schools respect the dignity of others, acknowledge the right of others to express differing opinions and foster and defend intellectual honesty,” which Myers believed Inama violated with her signs.
The act passed in 2021 because Idaho schools taught critical race theories, which government officials believed to encourage divisions based on sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, and national origin. Because district personnel used this act as a justification to reprimand Inama for her classroom signs, this calls to question the implications of political influence on U.S. education systems.
This instance in Meridian, Idaho represents a larger shift where political officials who are supported by wealthy elites urge educational institutions to conform to conservative ideological agendas.
This current administration’s political interference in public education highlights the intersection of economic disparities, racial tensions, and exclusion. The increasing power and influence of wealthy elites is the reason why a rich businessman currently sits as the president of the U.S.
So, Is this country heading toward an oligarchy? No, it’s already here.
