SoCal classrooms faced one battle after another in first year of Trump’s second term

Soon after President Donald Trump’s inauguration last January, his administration took a series of actions that touched virtually every aspect of public education in Southern California.

While some of those policies have since been paused or rolled back, the changes left many educators and families nervous and frustrated.

Here’s a round-up of some of the big moments from 2025.

Immigration fears keep students out of school

In April, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security showed up at two LAUSD schools to conduct what officials at the agency described as “wellness checks” on some immigrant students. The agents were turned away.

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Widespread immigration sweeps started in L.A. a few months later.

Local school leaders, parents and students have said that fear has at times kept kids from attending school and high school principals across the country reported similar experiences.

We’ve also seen acts of resistance. As early as February, students walked out to protest Trump’s policies. Teachers and volunteers with organizations like Union del Barrio began patrolling neighborhoods near schools to sound an alarm if there was any suspected immigration enforcement activity.

Schools have also provided additional resources, including busing for students afraid to walk to school and know-your-rights training for parents.

Immigration concerns also stretched into early childhood education. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in July that children without legal status would be barred from Head Start programs. That directive was paused by the administration, and then rejected by a federal judge.

An inspirational message decorates the wall of a Head Start classroom.

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Cory Turner

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NPR

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Federal budget cuts hit hard

The administration made a number of budget cuts to agencies that serve students and their families.

Early in the year, the administration slashed Department of Education staff.

The department also made steep cuts to its civil rights office in March, which already faced a backlog of complaints. Seven of 12 regional Office for Civil Rights branches were shuttered, including one in San Francisco, which handled complaints filed in California. The cases involve families trying to get services for students with disabilities, allegations of bias related to race and religion, and claims of sexual violence.

Many attorneys with the Office for Civil Rights were called back to work in December as the backlog of complaints became untenable.

The administration also restructured its funding of homeless services, meaning that the future may be even rougher for L.A. families seeking housing. Data reviewed by LAist show the number of unsheltered L.A. County children and families rose in 2025.

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program was eliminated in 2025. The end of the program sunsets a long-standing celebration of local school achievements. LAist preserved the records of California winners.

And the shutdown this fall over the federal budget also ensnared children and others who rely on food assistance from SNAP and WIC. In some cases, school districts invested in expanded meal programs to help make up for lost meals.

Diversity, equity and inclusion were targeted

The Trump administration has also sought to eliminate language associated with historically under-served communities across public education:

• Some Head Start centers were told to avoid words like “Black,” “minority,” and “trauma” in their funding applications.
• Under pressure to avoid certain terms, educators in TK-12 have had to figure out different approaches to improve academic outcomes and mental health for Black students.
• Colleges and universities such as the University of Southern California have eliminated “diversity, equity and inclusion” as stated values.

Trump also took other actions. He issued an executive order to end public service loan forgiveness for people who work at places that “advance illegal immigration, terrorism, discrimination and violent protests.”

Public higher education in California also found itself in unfriendly territory

In March, the Justice Department announced an investigation into University of California campuses related to allegations of antisemitism.

A few months later, the Justice Department revealed the results of an investigation into UCLA, alleging it found “indifference” to “a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students” — much like at Harvard, Columbia and other elite universities. To settle those and other claims, the Trump administration demanded $1 billion from UCLA.

The National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health froze hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding that had been allocated to the university’s researchers. This cut funding for a wide variety of projects — everything from research into pediatric cancer to how our gut microbiome affects our health.

Most of UCLA’s frozen research funding was restored by late September, following court orders. The UC system is still in negotiations with the Trump administration.