Videos circulating onsocial media claimPresidentDonald Trumpis shortening the school year to six months, but it isn't true. Severalvideos on TikTok, some amassing tens of thousands of likes and forwards, claim that Trump has proposed the cut due to post-COVID disrupted education. "Breaking news in a shocking and highly controversial statement," a news anchor style voice says over one of the videos, which features a breaking news headline and news clips of Trump and children. "President Donald Trump has proposed a dramatic cut to the length of the US academic year, allowing children to attend school for only six months annually starting in August." This is not the first time false news stories have been spread throughvideos on TikTok. Earlier this year, other fake stories were spread sayingTrump only had a few days to live(he is still alive), and he had approved a$1,200 payment for stay-at-home moms(he didn't). Here is what to know: More:President Trump orders colleges to hand over more race-related admissions data No, Trump has made no announcements indicating he intends to shorten the school year. In March, Trump signed an executive order aimed at closing the U.S. Department of Education, though fully dissolving the department would take Congressional action. However, the U.S. Supreme Court in July allowed the administration tofire hundreds of workersin its efforts to scale back the department. While K-12 curricula is largely under the purview of local governments, the Department of Education plays a supporting role in K-12 schools through funding. The agency also oversees colleges to ensure legal compliance and federal student aid. The Trump administration has also taken aim at higher education, threatening to withhold funding from several universities in the U.S. if they do not follow federal directives, all under the banner offighting antisemitism. He has alleged the institutions did not do enough to combat antisemitism during the protests against the war in Gaza, which brought allegations ofboth antisemitismandIslamaphobia. Some universities like Brown and Columbia have reached unprecedented deals with the Trump administration to end the freeze. Trump also restored thepresidential fitness testfor students in public schools. Contributing: Zachary Schermele, Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Is Trump making school 6 months long? No, those TikTok videos are fake
