This article is from a cover package of essays entitled Ten New Ideas for the Democratic Party to Help the Working Class, and Itself. Find the full series here.
In late 2023, then candidate Donald Trump released a series of internet videos outlining his agenda for education. Mixed into his typical stew of bald-faced lies and racial denialism, alongside plans to abolish the U.S. Department of Education and privatize public schools, was something that, coming from Trump, should be cause for genuine surprise: a sensible policy idea.