FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday establishing the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which will be led by newly confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Fox News Digital exclusively learned. 

The commission will be chaired by Kennedy and will be "tasked with investigating and addressing the root causes of America’s escalating health crisis, with an initial focus on childhood chronic diseases," the White House explained to Fox News Digital.

Kennedy was confirmed as the nation's leader of the U.S. Health and Human Services on Thursday and was expected to be sworn in later in the afternoon. His commission will work to "restore trust in medical and scientific institutions and hold public hearings, meetings, roundtables" to receive input from health leaders. 

The commission, Fox Digital learned, will focus on four policy directives to reverse chronic disease, including providing Americans transparency on health data to "avoid conflicts of interest in all federally funded health research;" prioritizing "gold-standard research on why Americans are getting sick" in all federally-funded health research; working with farmers to ensure food is healthy, as well as affordable; and expanding health coverage and treatment options "for beneficial lifestyle changes and disease prevention."

The commission initially will focus on childhood chronic diseases, such as autism and fatty liver disease, and also investigate adult chronic diseases, such as asthma and the U.S. average life expectancy compared to other nations. 

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Within 100 days of the commission's founding, it is expected to publish "an assessment that summarizes what is known and what questions remain regarding the childhood chronic disease crisis, and include international comparisons." Within 180 days, it is expected to "produce a strategy, based on the findings of the assessment, to improve the health of America’s children," Fox Digital learned. 

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Kennedy and Trump vowed on the campaign trail to "Make America Healthy Again," including directing their focus on autism among youths in recent years. The commission will investigate chronic conditions for both adults and children, including those related to autism, which the White House said affects one in 36 children.

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Trump, in recent months, has cited autism stats while previewing his second administration, balking at the number of children currently diagnosed compared to just 25 years ago. 

"When you look at, like, autism from 25 years ago, and you look at it now, something's going on," Trump said in December ahead of his inauguration. "Think of this: 25 years ago, autism, 1 in 10,000 children. Today it's 1 in 36 children. Is something wrong? I think so, and Robert and I, we're going to figure it out." 

Trump also vowed while on the campaign trail in June that he would "establish a special Presidential Commission of independent minds who are not bought and paid for by Big Pharma, and I will charge them with investigating what is causing the decades-long increase in chronic illnesses." 

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The Republican-controlled Senate voted 52–48 on Thursday to confirm Kennedy. His confirmation hearings before the Senate in late January included a few outbursts from protesters, as well as Democrats grilling him over his vaccine stances. 

Kennedy, who ran for president as a Democrat in the 2024 cycle before ultimately dropping out and endorsing Trump, clarified to the Senate that he is not "anti-vaccine." 

"I worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury and toxic chemicals in fish. And nobody called me anti-fish. And I believe that… that vaccines play a critical role in healthcare. All of my kids are vaccinated. I've read many books on vaccines. My first book in 2014, a first line of it is ‘I am not anti-vaccine’ and last line is ‘I am not anti-vaccine.’ Nor am I the enemy of food producers. American farms are the bedrock of our culture, of our politics, of our national security," Kennedy said during his hearing before the Senate Finance Committee in January. 

As the Make America Healthy Again movement gains traction nationally, many parents and grandparents may be reminded to keep an eye on the kinds of candy their children and grandchildren may receive this Valentine's Day.

To avoid potentially harmful dyes and chemicals in some candies and baked treats, certified holistic nutritionist Robin DeCicco, whose business is in New York, and registered dietitian nutritionist Ilana Muhlstein of Los Angeles offered a few MAHA-minded swaps.

Here are four alternatives for a healthier Valentine's Day this year for all family members.

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Instead of choosing chocolate candies that are "loaded with sugar," artificial food dyes and preservatives, DeCicco recommended trying organic YumEarth ChocoYums candies, which are free of artificial food dyes and high-fructose corn syrup.

She said Rawmio Organic Keto Dark Chocolate Hearts are made with raw cacao nibs.

"This chocolate is the real deal," she said. "There isn't even any butter or milk added – so this is also dairy free."

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Muhlstein recommended a variety of Hu dark chocolate bars, which are vegan, gluten-free and made with organic cacao.

Some colorful candies include a variety of potentially harmful colors, including red dye 40 and yellow and blue food coloring.

DeCicco suggested YumEarth Giggles as a hard chewy candy option, which uses organic fruit and vegetable concentrates for coloring.

The East Coast-based nutritionist recommended Black Forest Organic Gummy Bears, made with natural fruit and vegetable juice, as a swap for gummy or fruit snacks.

Muhlstein also listed a few healthier options for chewy and gummy sweets, including low-sugar Numa Taffy Candy, Pure Organic Fruit Bars, YumEarth Organic Chewys and BEAR Real Fruit Snack Rolls.

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For a bubble gum alternative, Muhlstein recommended Tree Hugger tooth-friendly gum with added xylitol for oral health.

While pink and red-colored cupcakes, brownies and other baked treats are festive and delicious, DeCicco said some red velvet cake mixes include preservatives to extend shelf life, as well as red dye.

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The nutritionist instead suggested Go Nana's Red Velvet Banana Bread/Cupcake Mix, including beet root powder for red coloring and no preservatives.

Muhlstein told Fox News Digital that any cake mix and frosting can be turned pink or red by mixing in natural ingredients like freeze-dried strawberries, pomegranate juice or mashed-up raspberries.

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DeCicco also offered a healthy Valentine's Day recipe for brownies. (See the video at the top of this article.)

Single-ingredient foods like fruits are always a good choice, said Muhlstein.

To make things a bit more festive for Valentine's Day, she suggested the idea of using a heart-shaped fruit cutter to slice strawberries, apples, bananas or other fruits of choice.

Heart-shaped cookie cutters can also be used to shape other food options, such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made with all-natural peanut butter and no added sugars.

Some brands are also focused on single-ingredient snacking, such as The Daily Good – recommended by Muhlstein – which makes soft-dried dragon fruit slices of 100% dragon fruit.

Amid Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to improve healthcare as part of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, there is a growing focus on vaccine transparency.

One of the most common childhood inoculations — the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine — has been a requirement for school attendance since its development in the 1970s.

Fox News medical contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier answered some frequently asked questions regarding the vaccine in a video for Fox News Digital. (See the video at the top of the article.)

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People often ask why the three vaccines are combined, which Saphier said is simply for convenience.

"From a public health standpoint, if the goal is to vaccinate as many children as possible to reach that herd immunity and keep these infections at bay, again, parents are more likely to only bring their child to the pediatrician that one time," the doctor said.

"And on a child, isn't it easier to give one injection as opposed to three separate injections?"

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Saphier also addressed concerns about MMR vaccine side effects, including inflammatory reactions at the site of the injection, where the skin can become red and warm.

Children can also have low-grade fevers and feel irritable or lethargic, which is "likely to happen" even with each individual vaccine – not just when the vaccines are combined.

"The reality is there are always side effects when it comes to any sort of healthcare intervention," she said in the video. "But with vaccines in particular, you can have the more mild side effects, and there are some severe, more rare side effects that are well-documented."

The potential for a link between autism and vaccinations has been a deterrent for many parents when choosing to vaccinate their children, but Saphier said the "overwhelming majority" of "good research" shows no causal link.

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One of the largest studies, conducted in Denmark, found a lower risk of autism in more than 650,000 vaccinated children, the doctor noted.

While the U.S. has a higher incidence of autism compared to other countries, specifically Europe, the doctor revealed that European nations have higher rates of MMR vaccine uptake.

"The signs and symptoms [of autism] start to show around the time we're giving all these vaccines, so it makes sense to kind of think they may be related," she said. 

"And it made sense to do as much research as we can to make sure there isn't a link."

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"But I think we need to be looking really hard at our environment, what we're ingesting, the pollutants, the toxins, everything in big agriculture, big pharma, in our food industry and everything else."

Saphier suggested that a link to autism may be found after diving into the "harmful chemicals" consumed by Americans that other nations do not consume.

The doctor also said that medical agencies — such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics — should be "less stringent" on vaccination schedules, leaving the decision to the parents.

"If parents don't want to give these vaccines when their babies are so little, I think it's OK to have that conversation and let them wait until their child's a little bit older before they head off to kindergarten," said Saphier, who is a mother of three boys.

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"Because maybe at that time, you start to see signs of autism between about 1 to 3 years of age for the most part. So maybe let the parent get their child through that time, and if there aren't signs of autism, then maybe they'll feel better about … being able to vaccinate their children."

"It should be a conversation between the doctor and the patient," she said.

"Unfortunately, during the COVID pandemic, the CDC and a lot of healthcare professionals really took away this conversation." 

"By putting the COVID vaccine and booster for children in the same basket as MMR and some of the other vaccines, when it comes to children, that was the biggest mistake they could have ever [made]," Saphier continued. 

"That has caused more vaccine hesitancy and concern."

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Saphier expressed her hope that the MAHA movement will help identify safety signals in vaccines, which will "give parents the confidence they need to continue with the vaccine programs, because they really can save lives."

Fox News Digital's Khloe Quill contributed reporting.

A new Washington state bill characterized as a repeal of the state’s Parents Bill of Rights now includes a provision allowing information to be essentially withheld from parents regarding assaults of their children for up to 48 hours.

State Sen. Claire Wilson, D-Federal Way, attested to the Washington State Standard the bill overall "doesn’t change any rights" and is a "cleanup bill" that updates health privacy provisions to align with current law.

In a House Education Committee hearing this week, one lawmaker unsuccessfully attempted to undo the 48-hour rule and require immediate parental notification.

"The underlying bill essentially states that schools can wait 48 hours before they tell parents if their children were involved in any kind of criminal action or if there was any sexual misconduct of staff," said state Rep. Travis Couture, R-Shelton.

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"And we have seen a stunning amount of sexual misconduct and sexual assaults by educators in our schools just in the last year itself."

He cited reports that two principals in the Vancouver, Wash., area "hid information" from parents on sexual misconduct against a teen.

"As a parent myself, I would be disgusted and sickened to know if my kids had some kind of sexual abuse put upon them by staff, and I wasn't notified immediately of those things. . . . For God’s sake, vote yes [on the amendment]."

But Democrat Lillian Ortiz-Self argued that as a school guidance counselor, she was trained in how to best deal with such situations.

"It’s very clear that we take direction from law enforcement and from the Department of Children and Family Services whenever there's a crime that has taken place and that we must sit here and give them the time to do the investigation so that justice can be served. Our role in the schools is to support the child and support the parents," said Ortiz-Self, of Mukilteo.

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Ortiz-Self said authorities must not have their investigations "impeded," to which KTTH commentator Jason Rantz reacted incredulously in a column.

"She didn’t say, most likely because it’s a completely contrived concern," he wrote.

Couture’s amendment to ensure immediate parental notification failed in an ensuing voice vote, with House Education Committee chairwoman Sharon Tomiko-Santos, D-Seattle, voting "nay" and deeming the vote unsuccessful.

Following Couture’s attempt to undo the change, another committee member raised a new amendment regarding parental notification if they are accused of a crime and have "more than just a meet and greet with a police officer."

"We just heard if law enforcement are involved, parents should be involved as well. They should have the bare minimum of a notification when it comes to law enforcement questioning a child," said state Rep. Matt Marshall, R-Roy.

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"There are just certain protections that are afforded to all of us as members of society given by our Constitution. And one of them is the right to legal protection. And we're innocent until proven guilty. If parents aren't even involved, then children are potentially not aware of their rights. If they're being questioned, who's to say what they're going to admit to when they're being accused of a crime?"

Marshall later said committee Democrats rejected two dozen Republican amendments in what he called a "blatant disregard for parents’ rights" and children's safety.

"[This is] further proof that Dems care more about their woke agenda than protecting our kids," he said.

The case against transgender medicine whistleblower Dr. Eithan Haim was dismissed with prejudice on Friday following a months-long legal battle. 

"The United States has finally agreed to drop the case against Dr. Haim, and the Court just granted dismissal," Marcella Burke, attorney for Eithan Haim, told Fox News Digital. "The case has been dismissed with prejudice so that the federal government can never again come after him for blowing the whistle on the secret pediatric transgender program at Texas Children’s Hospital." 

"We took on the most powerful federal leviathan in human history and won!" Haim told Fox News Digital. "This is credit to the power of truth and justice being able to destroy lies and corruption."

Haim was the subject of an ongoing criminal case brought by the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) after he leaked documents to the media that revealed Texas Children's Hospital in Houston was performing transgender medical procedures on minors through May 2023. Hospital leadership had announced it had stopped providing sex-change surgeries and puberty blockers the year before, after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ruled it constituted child abuse under state law.

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The court's ruling "fully vindicates Dr. Haim," Burke said. "We thank everyone who helped along the way to bring this massive injustice to light, and we are grateful to secure this victory on behalf of our client."

"The fight against the evils he exposed continues, but this dismissal represents a repudiation of the weaponization of federal law enforcement and the first step in accountability for the misdeeds we have all witnessed in this case."

The dismissal came shortly after Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., spoke with the Trump DOJ about the case, urging them "to immediately stop the Biden Admin’s malicious prosecution" of Haim, "the brave whistleblower who exposed illegal gender transition surgeries on minors in Texas," Hawley wrote on X. "He should be thanked, not prosecuted."

"Following my call this morning, I am delighted to report the Trump DOJ is now moving to DISMISS this illegitimate prosecution," Hawley announced on X a few hours later. 

Haim was a resident at the Baylor College of Medicine from June 2018 to June 2023 and worked at Texas Children's Hospital during part of his residency. 

In a piece published in the Manhattan Institute's City Journal, Haim claimed that three days after the announcement that transgender medical procedures had stopped, a surgeon implanted a hormone device in an 11-year-old girl who was experiencing gender dysphoria. Then, over the course of the next year, Haim said multiple colleagues told him they were implanting puberty-blocking devices in transgender-identifying minors. 

DOJ prosecutors alleged that the medical records Haim sent to City Journal's Chris Rufo were published with children's names, but Haim's lawyers claim all patient information was redacted. The DOJ indicted Haim on charges that he violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects patients' health information and gives them rights over their health records.

Notably, HIPAA regulations permit the disclosure of protected information to stop egregious medical misconduct. 

Between the original May 29 indictment to the second indictment on October 10, the DOJ changed some of its language, removing any mention of "HIPAA protected" information and changed the victims of the alleged harm caused by Haim's actions from "TCH's physicians and patients" to "TCH and its physicians."

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Fox News Digital reported in December that the prosecutor leading the charge against Haim had been taken off the case after information revealed a major conflict of interest regarding her family's involvement in the hospital system.

Additionally, according to lawyers on the case and court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital, the DOJ was in possession of information that disproved the HIPAA violations from the start. 

The DOJ originally claimed that Haim did not provide care to TCH patients after 2021, which was used as the basis for its claims that Haim had no reason to access patient records, but the unsealed documents disprove this claim, according to Haim's lawyers. 

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As we gather today for the 52nd annual March for Life – the world’s largest annual human rights demonstration – we mark a time of new beginnings. Earlier this week our country welcomed a new presidential administration, and, closer to home, our organization also begins a new season of leadership. 

It has undoubtedly been the honor of a lifetime to serve this incredible organization – and the collective millions of marchers – for the past 12 years, but I am delighted to now pass this responsibility to Jennie Bradley Lichter, with confidence that she is the woman meant to lead the March for Life and the pro-life community in this next season.  

With such exciting changes, it is also good to recall what is unchangeable; the thing that draws countless people to Washington, D.C., year after year and that which makes the March for Life great. 

I’m referring to the foundational values that anchor our efforts, remembering that all human life, born and unborn, has inherent dignity and value that deserves to be protected and supported in families, communities and by law. The unborn are the poorest of the poor, the most vulnerable, and they are worthy of every possible protection we can offer. I can’t think of a more worthy cause. 

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This year’s theme, Life: Why We March, highlights our desire to refocus on these attractive, commonsense and basic fundamentals of life. These include the truth that each life has inherent dignity and that science shows that life begins at the moment of conception or fertilization. The heart of the pro-life movement is about providing the resources and support pregnant women and families need, and last, we need to continue to utilize the power of witness and storytelling to change hearts and minds.  

Science clearly shows that life begins at the moment of conception/fertilization. From that moment on a new human life in the womb possesses its own genetically unique DNA, different from its mother and father. At just six weeks, expectant parents can see and hear their child’s heartbeat and by 12 weeks all other organs have formed. 

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These are only a handful of the many moments of gestational development that give witness to the reality that each life is unrepeatable, inherently valuable, and deserving of our love and protection.   

Tragically, we live in a culture that presents confusing messages to women in this regard, presenting the false idea that abortion is necessary to flourish and succeed. Yet the tragic reality is that 60% of women who had abortions would have preferred to give birth if they felt they had the emotional or financial support they needed. 

Women need to know that they are strong and capable, and the pro-life community will love and support them long after their child is born. That’s why there are approximately 3,400 community-based maternity homes and pregnancy resource centers across America that help women in need who want to keep their children.  

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Denying the inherent value and dignity of unborn children through elective abortion has scarred innumerable women, families and doctors, and, of course, robbed us of hundreds of thousands of innocent and precious children each year. The speakers who address the March for Life this year, from a man who survived a botched abortion to a former abortionist, have come to share their testimony and shine light on the tragedy of abortion, while serving as a beacon of hope for our future.  

Sometimes we forget that abortion impacts real people for the rest of their lives. But by boldly sharing our stories, we can remind women and families around us that their lives, as well as their child’s, are worthy of love and protection. There is strength in our voices and power in our presence. 

We march for unborn children in the womb, all of whom deserve love and life. But being pro-life goes far beyond protecting those still in the womb; we stand by and support every struggling mother and family as they welcome new life into the world. We also march for the former abortionists, those who have survived abortions, and the women who have suffered the physical and emotional pain of abortion.  

Our message is simple, direct and clear: each human life from the moment of conception deserves our respect and protection, and we are here to support those lives every step of the way. The outpouring of love and support shown by the pro-life community must serve as a guiding light in the midst of so much darkness.  

So the world continues to change as it always will, but the goals of the March for Life remain steadfast and true. We will continue to affirm the beautiful truth that unborn children are equal members of our human family, offer resources and support to women and families in need, and let our witness tell the story that every human life is priceless and the tragedy of abortion harms us all. And that is why we march.  

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is fighting to uphold a Texas law he says is keeping the pornography industry from targeting children with harmful content.

Passed in 2023 and signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, the law requires porn sites to verify users’ ages through official documentation such as a driver’s license or government-issued I.D. Under the law, failure to implement this age verification results in fines.

Meanwhile, a collection of porn sites calling itself the Free Speech Coalition argues that the Texas law curbs their First Amendment rights and places an undue burden on Texas adults from accessing their content.   

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Pornhub, the country’s most popular adult content website, went so far as to disable access to their website for all users in Texas after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled to uphold the law.

The two sides finally came face to face this Wednesday to make their case before the Supreme Court.

For its part, the nation’s highest court appeared united in agreeing with Paxton’s argument that states have a vested interest in limiting children’s access to pornographic content. Some justices, however, seemed to still have concerns about whether the Texas law’s prohibitions were too broad and could impact other areas of free speech expression.

The question before the court now is whether the Texas law should be subject to "rational basis" or "strict scrutiny" review, the latter of which would require Texas to meet the narrowest standards to uphold the age verification requirement.

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Whichever way the court rules will likely impact not only the Texas law but also the over a dozen other porn site age verification laws in states across the country.

In an interview with Fox News Digital after the hearing, Paxton said he feels confident that the Supreme Court will rule in Texas’ favor.

"Hearing the questions and seeing the comments by the justices I feel very optimistic, I think we’re going to win this," he said. "I really feel good about it. I think most of the justices are going to come down on the right side."

"Even the other side making their arguments admitted that we have an interest in protecting minors," he went on. "They just said that the way we were doing that was some type of overburden on adults, and so they offered up other suggestions, those suggestions don’t actually work and that’s probably why they offered them up, they don’t want age verification because it actually works, and it affects their bottom line." 

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In response to criticisms about the law potentially violating free speech, Paxton said: "Look I’m a huge free speech advocate. I see very few limitations on free speech. However, we have recognized that we need to protect children in all kinds of different ways. We don’t let them sign contracts, we don’t let them get married until they’re 18, we don’t let them be served alcohol, we don’t let them get tobacco, we have protected children, it’s been [throughout] our entire history."

"If you look anywhere in the developed world or anywhere [else], children are protected," he added. "It’s my job to enforce Texas law. In this case I feel very comfortable protecting our children from having this put in front of them."

The Department of Education was established more than 40 years ago in an effort to refine the U.S. school system. But as incoming political leaders, including President-elect Trump, consider dismantling the agency, a Fox News Digital review examines the trends in test scores, graduation rates and federal funding since its inception. What follows is the results of those findings. 

When former President Jimmy Carter was in office, Congress passed the Department of Education Organization Act in October 1979, which officially established the agency in 1980. 

The department was created to determine policy for, administer and coordinate federal assistance to educational institutions around the country, but has seen opposition since its founding – commonly from Republican lawmakers.

Trump said he is going to dissolve the agency when he assumes office, asking whether the department is crucial in the development of education or if schools would benefit from a more localized education system. 

The modern-day educational system appears vastly different to that of the agency's founding. And a decades-long debate on whether individual states should have more control over local school systems, rather than the federal government, has been reignited as Trump prepares to take office.

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"Federal government efforts to improve education have been dismal," Lindsey Burke, director of the right-leaning think tank the Heritage Foundation's Center for Education Policy, wrote of the current education system amid years of low test scores. "Even if there were a constitutional basis for its involvement – which there isn’t – the federal government is simply ill-positioned to determine what education policies will best serve the diverse local communities across our vast nation."

It has been argued that having such a department allows people with the right expertise to make decisions as it relates to funding.

Clare McCann, the managing director of policy and operations at the Postsecondary Equity & Economics Research (PEER) Center, told ABC News in November: "There's a reason the Department of Education was created, and it was to have this kind of in-house expertise and policy background on these [education] issues. 

"The civil servants who work at the Department of Education are true experts in the field."

Average test scores among students have fallen significantly since the Department of Education was created more than 40 years ago. 

Both math and reading scores among 13-year-old students are at their lowest levels in decades, according to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for the 2022–2023 school year.

While the Department of Education doesn't control how students perform on tests, it is responsible for issuing the requirement for schools to conduct standardized testing in schools – which have reached their lowest scores in decades in 2024, according to NAEP.

The average U.S. ACT composite score in the 1990s was about 20.8, data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) shows. But, since then, standardized test scores have dropped. 

According to 2024 ACT data, Nevada has the lowest test scores in the country, with an average score of 17.2, while Oklahoma follows with the second-lowest average score of 17.6.

"The results are sobering," National Center for Educational Statistics Commissioner Peggy G. Carr told ABC News of today's test scores. 

Most schools reopened after shifting to an all-online learning environment during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, but Carr said that "this decline that we're seeing was there in 2015, so all of this cannot be blamed on COVID."

Average test scores in the U.S. are commonly based off the standardized testing average. Europe and East Asian countries, which don't use ACT or SAT testing as required by the U.S., usually rank as having higher test scores, comparably.

Proponents of a dedicated education agency say federal involvement aids the system, while many critics say it is a waste of taxpayer dollars. 

In its early years, the department made specific requirements when allocating funding to schools, such as requiring higher education institutions to offer a campus drug and alcohol abuse prevention program under the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act, passed in 1989. 

However, under President Biden, the Department of Education has seen funds spent on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts in K-12 schools across the country – an initiative critics say diverts funding away from core educational objectives.

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A recent study found that Biden's Department of Education spent $1 billion on grants advancing DEI in hiring, Fox News Digital reported. 

Since 2021, the Biden administration spent $489,883,797 on grants for race-based hiring; $343,337,286 on general DEI programming; and $169,301,221 on DEI-based mental health training and programming, totaling $1,002,522,304.81, according to Parents Defending Education, a right-leaning nonprofit. 

Rethinking the department could be as simple as giving states the funding and then allowing its leaders to decide how it is dished out, Neal McCluskey, an education analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute public policy think tank, told ABC News in November.

In the 1970-1971 school year, high school graduation rates were at 78%. 

But those rates fell, dropping to a 72.9% average graduation rate in 1982, shortly after the Department of Education was established. 

Rates remained in the low 70th percentiles until the early 2000s, data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows. 

However, data from the 2021–2022 school year shows that the average graduation rate for public high school students was 87% – an increase of seven percentage points higher than a decade earlier.

Technological advances have transformed the educational environment for students, with typing often taking the place of lessons on cursive writing, digital tools enhancing math instruction, and GPS technology reducing the reliance on traditional map reading skills. 

Today's technology-driven workforce has also reshaped the school system, as computer and artifical intelligence classes take precedence over home economics, such as sewing or baking. 

The Department of Education does not establish curriculum requirements for schools, but rather it is left to the state and local school boards to decide. 

However, curriculum changes have still been at the forefront of recent political conversations, specifically as it relates to parents seeking more involvement in their child's classroom. Parents from all around the country have spoken out against certain topics being included in their child's curriculum, usually related to gender and sex, and reportedly not being informed about the content before it was shared in class.

Fox News Digital recently reported on an elementary school in the New York City suburbs that was teaching a "gender curriculum" to elementary-level children in an effort to promote "inclusion" in school. 

Meanwhile, in 2016, the Washington Office (OSPI) set health education standards for all public schools, requiring children in kindergarten and first grade to learn that "there are many ways to express gender."

In Oregon, the state board of education adopted health education standards, also in 2016, requiring kindergartners and first-graders to "recognize that there are many ways to express gender," while third-graders in the state have been expected to be able to "define sexual orientation," Fox reported in 2022.

Opponents of the Department of Education, such as Trump, have used such examples of controversial curriculum to argue that parents should be granted more power in their child's learning.

The incoming Republican president, however, was not the first to propose the idea. Former President Ronald Reagan called for the department to be abolished to "ensure that local needs and preferences, rather than the wishes of Washington, determine the education of our children."

"There's only one way to shrink the size and cost of big government, and that is by eliminating agencies that are not needed and are getting in the way of a solution," Reagan said in 1981. 

David Kanani, president of Los Angeles ORT College, a Jewish education nonprofit, suggested the department be cleaned up rather than completely eradicated. 

"The Department of Education ensures consistency and quality across schools, particularly in STEM education, which is critical for national security and global competitiveness," Kanani told Fox News Digital in January. "Instead of elimination, we should clean up and reform the department to collaborate more effectively with state and local systems, prioritizing STEM as a national imperative."

Andrew Clark, president of advocacy group yes. every kid., recently said Trump should establish pathways to redesign the education system rather than bulldozing the entire department.

"To make real change, you have to do it in ways that benefit people's lives, and so if you just drop the hammer overnight you are going to cause pain for people [who] are dependent. So you're going to have to come up with pathways to make changes," Clark told Ravi Gupta, a former Obama staffer turned school principal and host of the "Lost Debate" podcast.

Trump would need congressional approval in order to make any changes to the Education Department. 

Republicans currently have the majority in both the House and the Senate, meaning lawmakers could pass new legislation addressing the laws establishing and sanctioning the department.

Fox News' Kristine Parks and Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.

A child in California is presumed to have H5N1 bird flu, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH).

As of Dec. 23, there had been 36 confirmed human cases of bird flu in the state, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

This represents more than half of the human cases in the country.

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The latest pediatric patient, who lives in San Francisco, experienced fever and conjunctivitis (pink eye) as a result of the infection.

The unnamed patient was not hospitalized and has fully recovered, according to the SFDPH.

The child tested positive for bird flu at the SFDPH Public Health Laboratory. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will perform additional tests to confirm the result.

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It is not yet known how the child was exposed to the virus and an investigation is ongoing.

"I want to assure everyone in our city that the risk to the general public is low, and there is no current evidence that the virus can be transmitted between people," said Dr. Grant Colfax, director of health, in the press release. 

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"We will continue to investigate this presumptive case, and I am urging all San Franciscans to avoid direct contact with sick or dead birds, especially wild birds and poultry. Also, please avoid unpasteurized dairy products." 

Samuel Scarpino, director of AI and life sciences and professor of health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, is calling for "decisive action" to protect individuals who may be in contact with infected livestock and also to alert the public about the risks associated with wild birds and infected backyard flocks. 

"While I agree that the risk to the broader public remains low, we continue to see signs of escalating risk associated with this outbreak," he told Fox News Digital.

Experts have warned that the possibility of mutations in the virus could enable person-to-person transmission.

"While the H5N1 virus is currently thought to only transmit from animals to humans, multiple mutations that can enhance human-to-human transmission have been observed in the severely sick American," Dr. Jacob Glanville, CEO of Centivax, a San Francisco biotechnology company, told Fox News Digital.

"This highlights the requirement for vigilance and preparation in the event that additional mutations create a human-transmissible pandemic strain."

As of Jan. 10, there have been a total of 707 infected cattle in California, per reports from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).

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In the last 30 days alone, the virus has been confirmed in 84 dairy farms in the state.

A choking emergency can turn really scary, really quickly.

Whether it’s yourself or another person, knowing how to remove the blockage while staying calm can be the difference between life and death.

The Heimlich maneuver is a first-aid method recommended by most health organizations, which uses abdominal thrusts to dislodge an obstruction from a person’s windpipe.

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Mass General Brigham, a health care system in Boston, Massachusetts, shared on its website step-by-step guidance on how to effectively perform the Heimlich, provided by emergency medicine doctor Wendy Macias-Konstantopoulos, MD.

In any choking emergency, Mass General Brigham suggests first calling 911 to report that someone may need the help of a medical professional.

If there is another person present, one person should call 911 while the other begins doing the Heimlich.

The Heimlich maneuver should not be performed on someone who can still talk, breathe or cough, according to Macias-Konstantopoulos.

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In that case, encourage someone exhibiting these signs to continue coughing to dislodge the object.

If none of these signs are present, or if the person is exhibiting the universal choking sign, start by administering up to five sharp blows to the person’s back with the heel of your hand between their shoulder blades.

If the person is still choking after a few blows to the back, experts recommend starting the Heimlich maneuver.

Macias-Konstantopoulos' guidance is to first stand behind the choking person, or kneel if it’s a child.

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Wrap your arms around their torso from the back. Make a fist with one hand and grab it with the other.

Place your hands in between the person’s belly button and rib cage.

Next, thrust in an inward and upward motion on the diaphragm. This will force air out of the lungs and remove the blockage. Repeat these abdominal thrusts up to five times, the doctor advised.

If the choking continues, go back to the five back blows followed by five abdominal thrusts until the airway is cleared or help has arrived.

For people who may be pregnant or obese, the Heimlich maneuver can be administered with five chest thrusts to the breastbone, or middle of the chest, instead of the abdomen.

Mass General Brigham warned that the Heimlich maneuver should not be used on infants younger than 12 months.

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Instead, if a baby under a year old is choking, hold them face down along the length of your arm or thigh, keeping their head lower than their bottom.

Sharply hit the baby on their back, firmly but not hard enough to injure them, up to five times, the health care system advised.

Once the blockage is dislodged, check the baby’s mouth and remove any visible objects with a finger.

If the blows to the back don’t work, try performing chest thrusts by holding the baby face up in the same orientation.

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Keep their head lower than their body and support the baby’s neck and head with your hand, according to Macias-Konstantopoulos.

Place two to three fingers on the baby’s breastbone, or in the middle of their chest, and press sharply one inch downward and upward up to five times.

As children in particular run a high risk of choking, the doctor advised parents and guardians to be careful with foods like popcorn, nuts, grapes, hot dogs and hard candy.

"Cut children’s food into small pieces before they eat," she recommended. 

"Keep choking hazards out of children’s reach, keep a close eye on your child while they eat and supervise play time."

If you're choking while alone, the same Heimlich technique can be performed on yourself, according to Mass General Brigham.

Place your fists right above your belly button and pull inward and upward into your diaphragm.

Alternatively, try bending over a hard surface, such as the back of a chair or countertop, and shove yourself into the same area of your abdomen to create a similar force to your lungs.

If you are unable to speak, many states allow texts to be sent to 911, the health care system noted.

"Type the numbers ‘9-1-1’ into the ‘to’ or ‘recipient’ field," Macias-Konstantopoulos instructed. "Text your location and the nature of your emergency right away."