Education deserves a rebrand. Here are my suggestions.

Since taking office, President Trump has been on a self-entitled and dangerous quest to rebrand institutions and landmarks. Earlier this month, he signed an executive order renaming the Department of Defense to be known as the Department of War to “convey a stronger message of readiness and resolve.” The Department of Education isn’t up for a rebranding but a dismantling, leaving us to imagine what an overhaul might look like.

But there is always a pattern for possibility, a blueprint that can guide us toward something more generative. How could we reimagine the role that schools play in society? Could repositioning our education system help it be celebrated for what it is: a platform for possibility, a place where our future begins, a space of reverence and meaning? I explored three ways we could rebrand, using templates from other imperfect aspects of our government.

I want to be clear – dreaming of a new name and logo falls far short of providing schools and their stakeholders with the support they deserve. Until we’ve found a better way forward, we can support organizations like DonorsChoose, which creates a platform for anyone to invest in a teacher’s vision for a better classroom. This Thursday, we’ll be supporting their back-to-school campaign to support underserved classrooms, where all donations will be matched! Stay tuned for more information. In the meantime, visit their website and follow them on social media for more.

Together, this community has raised over $64,000 so far for classrooms through DonorsChoose. We might not have rebranded education, but we’re reimagining it with each act of care. Thank you for your continued commitment to our future.

Department of Possibility

What if we reimagined the Department of Education around what classrooms can do best: create opportunity and possibility for its community? Instead of being held to basic academic standards across subjects, schools are measured by how many possibilities it provides for its students, from their career aptitude to their physical and mental wellbeing. Working closely with community stakeholders in each geographical region, the Department of Possibility is designed to augment the lives of each child, supporting where other social services may be limited. It doesn’t just celebrate the many ways that schools show up for communities today, it invests in them – adding necessary infrastructure for how schools have become physical and digital third spaces for community.

Stepping into a school would be hands-on and interactive. There would be classes in the traditional sense, but a wider syllabus that reflects readiness for students in each community. You’d also find basic health care, fresh groceries, affordable childcare, and a small retailer for seasonal apparel and essential supplies. We’d be looking to bright students, not billionaires, for the next innovation.

NLDA: National Learning and Discovery Administration

Taking a page from NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, our education system is seen as a similar space for intellectual exploration. Schools, across age ranges and location, are be assigned missions to illuminate the world on topics that feel distant or unfamiliar. We follow stories of teachers as they embark on a new school year like a mission launch, teachers who have received deep and intentional professional development like astronauts do. On special nights, we huddle around our televisions and smartphones with our family and friends to hear updates from the great world beyond – sitting in awe as historians uncover stories we haven’t heard before.

Stepping into a school will feel like entering a rocket ship (hopefully, with a bit more physical space). Our children’s futures will be met with the urgency and rigor of a mission launch. There’d be rapid iteration and growth wiinth how we teach, and technology would move at the pace of this administration so innovation leaves no community behind.

Bureau of Mind Management*

The Bureau of Land Management’s mission is to “sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.” What if we applied that approach to the productivity of our collective intellect, seeing our intellectual growth as an investment for today and tomorrow? With this approach, as a society, we’d honor our minds as another physical space to steward, with borders only defined by our capacity to understand. The bureau would invest across several types of stewardship, including science, math, and the humanities, but also fundamental cognitive operations like memory, attention, and decision-making; and specialized cognitive modes like creativity and critical thinking.

Here, we center the wisdoms of ancestral practices that have helped us steward our minds for generations, blending Indigenous forms of academic rigor with practices of mind and body union. Classes would be responsive to nature and the needs of the surrounding lands, marrying the physical with the metaphysical. Learning wouldn’t just reflect rote practices, but storytelling and artistic expression.

*Gotta be honest, mind management sounds a bit “mind controlly”; might need to hire an actual copywriter for this one.

This exercise was for illumination purposes only. In reality, actually rebranding the Department of Education is truly none of my business. Instead, it should be shaped by our students, teachers and student guardians. Here are some ways to explore further.

• Through NPR’s annual Student Podcast Challenge, you can hear stories from classrooms across the country created by middle and high school students, highlighting their views on mental health, technology, and other key issues.

• Explore this timeline on the history of education. Note how many milestones were shaped by public advocacy and community engagement. I also appreciated this timeline of the history of school lunches.

• Read about Indigenous pedagogy and how it can shape education.

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