The idea that President Donald Trump has suggested a six-month school year has gone viral across social media. The stories, which either present the six-month figure as a new proposal or as an incorrect statement of what already exists, have spread across TikTok. Still, there appears to be no evidence backing them up and no such proposal on the table from the White House.
False rumor spreads on TikTok
Newsweek recently published a fact-check article to debunk rumors that Trump proposed that children only attend school for six months each year. The idea of this suggestion appears to have spread across TikTok, with videos making the claims racking up hundreds of thousands of views. Two popular videos cited by Newsweek make different variations of the claim. One video declares, “Donald Trump just announced kids only attend school 6 months Out of the year,” as if Trump was presenting a fact. That video counts the referenced “6 months” as August to January. Another video asserts, “Donald Trump is tryna pass a law where kids only have to go to school for six months.”
Newsweek rates these claims as false. Neither of the videos features video or audio of Trump making the comments attributed to him, and Newsweek notes there are no reports of him making these or similar remarks. Furthermore, even if Trump desired to shorten the school year, authority to set the school calendar resides within individual states, not the federal government. Though it varies by state, children typically attend school for around 180 days each school year, which are generally spread over nine months when factoring in weekends and holidays.
Trump’s educational policies raise concerns
Though false, the claim may seem believable given the president’s actions toward education. Most notably, Trump has attempted to dismantle the Department of Education. The “big, beautiful bill” recently passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump includes billions of dollars of cuts to federal grants for schools, as well as a school voucher program that would allow students to opt out of public school in favor of private or religious schools instead. The latter provision follows up on a January executive order on “school choice” that sought to expand vouchers for K-12 education, which critics say will harm public schools.
The president has also targeted several colleges and universities, including Brown, Columbia and Harvard, cutting or threatening to cut federal funding and otherwise interfering in their ability to operate. Through the Department of Government Efficiency, formerly run by Elon Musk, the administration also accessed student data from various colleges and universities, prompting at least one lawsuit over privacy concerns. Recently, Trump issued a memo requiring colleges and universities that receive federal funding to hand over admissions data, with the intent to investigate whether schools are using race as a factor in admissions after the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action.
Despite rumors to the contrary, Trump has not shortened the school day. He has, however, taken a variety of other steps that may impact students’ educational options and change the resources available to them at the K-12 and collegiate levels.
