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It is difficult to overstate the intentional underinvestment in public education by conservative states in the US. Quite simply, conservatives see public education as liberal indoctrination and would prefer it not exist. For example,

* Project 2025 calls for eliminating the Office of Head Start, which would lead to the closure of Head Start child care programs that serve about 833,000 low-income children each year.

* In place of a federal Education Department, the it calls for widespread public education funding that goes directly to families, as part of its overarching goal of “advancing education freedom.” This is to enable the public funding of private religious schools which do not have regulatory oversight.

* The federal school meals program should be scaled back to ensure that only children from low-income families are receiving the benefit.