The Professional Designation is a Smoke Screen

It would be easy to start with a throw-away line about how Teachers were considered essential workers just five years ago. And, it is true, we were (and still are) essential. In light of the recent news that Teachers are no longer considered professionals when it comes to Federal Aid, that flippant line about being essential doesn't quite hit the mark or explain just how deep this really goes.

Of course, there is going to be a ton of rhetoric when it comes to the proposal made by the Trump Administration to no longer consider certain fields professional. Those fields include, of course, teachers, while also targeting nurses, physician assistants, physical therapists, and social workers among others. It will be written that he is simply trying to clean up the financial mess that is student loans and that this will further the efficiency of the mission to close the Federal Department of Education and "return the power back to the State."

And, of course, there will be the argument made that it doesn't impact the teaching profession because the requirements didn't become any more difficult.

On the surface, this looks like yet another strike by Trump against the education field. After all, he started the indoctrination talk, re-started the movement to ban books, and started the movement to end education as a federal priority. On the surface it is a strike on education.

It goes deeper than that.

All of this doesn't impact veteran teachers like me. We are all past the stage of our career where we are getting another master's degree or certification. The real threat to public education is the long-term effect of this new designation. Our potential future educators are now faced with a choice. Will they still enter a career that doesn't pay as well as the private sector and now have limitations on the financial aid available to obtain their required advanced degrees? Some might. Many won't. The Trump administration, on behalf of Project 2025, is definitely playing that long game.

They are systematically creating a teacher shortage. When that shortage becomes a reality, they can gain even more control of curriculum or, most likely, privatize education. The rich will receive a quality education; the rest will be relegated. This is how you create the inequality that Project 2025 outlines. That is the ultimate end game. They want all of the access, all of the resources, and all of the wealth. How do you build generational wealth and power for your small group? It's simple; keep the rest of the population uneducated and away from any sort of quality career.

That's the real endgame with education. Public Education is supposed to be the great equalizer. It was founded on the idea that everyone should have access and that everyone can leverage those skills to build a better life. They don't want EVERYONE to have a better life. They only want their kind to have that better life.

It goes even deeper than all of that. The Education Industry attack is just a smokescreen for an even worse endgame.

Before getting to that endgame, there is one other goal of this group. As always, follow the money. The new designation caps federal loan money for borrowers. That would force someone to get a private student loan with higher interest rates and without the federal regulations and benefits. So, corporations get more money and people get gouged again. It isn't a leap to make that once private corporations get a stronghold on the loan industry, the more privatized education could become. It is about limiting access to people.

And, that brings us to the ultimate endgame.

What are those newly minted, non-professional careers again? Teachers, Nurses, Social Workers, Physician Assistants, Physical Therapists, among others like Architects and Accountants.

That's an oddly specific group of professions to target. What do they all have in common? Let's take a look at some numbers.

The nursing field is one of the most vital in our society. There is no arguing that. They are the front line of every hospital and are often in harm's way because of it. Without nurses, hospitals don't function, doctors don't treat as efficiently, and more people die. 88 percent of nurses are women.

The social work field is another essential field. They provide counseling to those who need. They provide and find services for those who need. They advocate for those who need. In other words, they help people who need help. 83 percent of social workers are women.

Physician Assistants are another vital part of the medical field. They treat patients, prescribe medication, and are another layer of care for patients. They make hospitals and doctor offices run more efficiently and treat more people. 75 percent of physicians assistants are women.

Sensing a pattern yet?

Physical Therapists help people recover and live a better life. They are essential to health and recovery of so many people from all walks of life. 64 percent of physical therapists are women.

Teachers? Yup, you guessed it; 77 percent of teachers are women.

So, all of the rhetoric and all of the bluster about student loan reform is a smokescreen for the real agenda of Trump and his Project 2025; they are stripping opportunities away from women. We've seen the attempts and successes of states throughout the country to dial back a woman's right to vote or at least make it harder for them to vote. And, we've seen the objectives of Project 2025 to eliminate a woman's right to choose, strip the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, and the rollback/elimination of DEI.

Once you get past the smokescreen, the attack target is clear. Women are the targets. It is done in a way that gives Trump and his crew plausible deniability. They aren't denying a right to go into a profession. They are just making it more difficult and more expensive. By doing so, less people have access.

When less people have access, there are more opportunities for them to seize power.