Last week, President Donald Trump announced that he will propose a $54 billion dollar increase in defense spending, while cutting $54 billion to domestic programs. “Everybody used to say America never lost a war,” Trump said, “Now we never win and don’t fight to win.” But Mr. President, what about education? What about winning the fight for culturalism, intellectualism, and higher learning?

According to the 2015 results for the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)—a triennial international survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students—the United States ranks 35^th in math, 24^th in reading, and 25^th in science. On the other hand, a 2016 study conducted by Central Connecticut State University found that the United States ranks seventh in the world in literacy. We’re falling behind.

Perhaps America should take a look at China and start asking questions. How does a poor country like China, with a GDP per capita of $14,160, score higher in education than the wealthiest country in the world at $51,430 GDP per capita? Chinese workers make an average annual income of about 1/6^th less than the American workers, but are better educated than the average American in most aspects. Not surprisingly, China maintains a highly competitive level of education all while spending about a quarter less than America on defense spending.

I understand  President Trump wants to “keep America safe”, but that comes at the expense of future generations. Adding $54 billion dollars to our current $597 billion defense could quite possibly undermine federal efforts of infrastructure, education, environmental protection, and other federally funded areas. In fact, our military spending amounts for 41% of all military spending in the world (SIPRI). That’s more than the next seven countries combined (China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, United Kingdom, India, France, and Japan).

The increase in defense spending, along with budget cuts, represents about a 10% cut in agencies like the department of education. During his campaign, President Trump routinely made comments about making cuts to the education system. At a Tea Party convention in January 2015, he said, “You could cut that way, way, way down.” On Fox News, he said, “I’m not cutting services, but I am cutting spending, but I may cut Department of Education.” It’s clear that budget cuts to education are inevitable, but what exactly does that entail?

Here are a few ways the budget for the Department of Education could be cut (education week):

• Pell Grants to support low-income students
• Title 1 funding for disadvantaged students
• Individuals With Disabilities Education Act money for students in special education
• Promise Neighborhoods
• Education Innovation and Research program
• Funding for state assessments
• The Office for Civil Rights

It isn’t known how big or how small these cuts may be for the Department of Education, but the implications of any type of cut are staggering. For example, some students that are impoverished or disabled may not be able to afford higher education with cuts to Pell Grants and Title 1 funding. On the other hand, programs like Promise Neighborhoods provide improved education for distressed urban and rural areas while the Office of Civil Rights enforces civil rights laws against discrimination in public schooling and programs.

America cannot continue to cut the programs that mean the most to our future. Our children need improved education to be able to keep up with other countries. In a time where opinions are facts, facts are fake, and media literacy is at an all-time low, we desperately need an improved education system. I’m not saying we should stop spending money on the military, but we need to focus on the future, too.