Videos circulating on social media claim President Donald Trump is shortening the school year to six months, but it isn't true.

Several videos 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 through videos on TikTok. Earlier this year, other fake stories were spread saying Trump 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:

Is Trump making school 6 months long?

No, Trump has made no announcements indicating he intends to shorten the school year.

What has Trump done with education so far?

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 to fire hundreds of workers in 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 of fighting antisemitism. He has alleged the institutions did not do enough to combat antisemitism during the protests against the war in Gaza, which brought allegations of both antisemitism and Islamaphobia. Some universities like Brown and Columbia have reached unprecedented deals with the Trump administration to end the freeze.

Trump also restored the presidential fitness test for 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: No, Trump did not propose a 6-month school year, as TikTok videos claim

Reporting by Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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