School Choice News ~ Fund Students Not Systems

 

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Expands Educational Opportunities for American Families

January 30, 2025

 

DEFENDING PARENTAL RIGHTS AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order expanding educational freedom and opportunity for families. It recognizes that parents, not the government, play a fundamental role in choosing and directing the upbringing and education of their children.

• It directs the Department of Education to issue guidance on how the States can use federal funding formulas to support their K-12 scholarship programs.
• It directs the Secretary of Education to prioritize school choice programs in the Department’s discretionary grant programs.
• The Order requires the Department of Health and Human Services to issue guidance on how states receiving block grants for children and families can use those funds to support educational alternatives, including private and faith-based options.
• It directs the Secretary of Defense to submit a plan to the President for how military families can use Department of Defense funds to send their children to the school of their choice.
• The Order also directs the Secretary of the Interior to submit a plan to the President for how families with students attending Bureau of Indian Education schools can use federal funds to send their children to the school of their choice.

EMPOWERING PARENTS AND STUDENTS THROUGH SCHOOL CHOICE: Every child deserves the best education available, regardless of their zip code. However, for generations, our government-assigned education system has failed millions of parents, students, and teachers. This Executive Order begins to rectify that wrong by opening up opportunities for students to attend the school that best fits their needs.

• According to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 70% of 8th graders were below proficient in reading and 72% were below proficient in math. 40% of 4th graders did not even meet the basic reading levels. 
• Standardized test scores have essentially been flat for over 30 years, despite hundreds of billions of dollars spent on government-run education.
• A dozen states have universal or near universal school choice programs and 33 states have some form of school choice program.
• School choice programs have a strong record of improving students’ academic performance.
• School choice has proven to be cost effective and saves taxpayer dollars.
• Parents report higher levels of school safety for their children who participate in school choice programs.
• Support for school choice is overwhelming, with 70% of Democrats, 73% of Black Americans, and 69% of Hispanic Americans in favor of it.
• President Trump is dedicated to ensuring every child has the opportunity to receive a world-class education.

FULFILLING THE PROMISE TO STRENGTHEN EDUCATION THROUGH FREEDOM AND OPPORTUNITY: President Trump promised to bring school choice to every family in the Nation. Today’s historic executive order is a critical step in delivering on that promise, and builds on the long list of accomplishments from the first Trump Administration, including:

• Calling on Congress to pass the School Choice Now Act and the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act.
• Providing in-person learning options for low-income parents forced to send their children to virtual school during the pandemic.
• Re-authorizing the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program twice.
• Investing nearly $1.5 billion in the development of public charter schools, helping this innovative sector grow to 7,500 charter schools serving more than 3 million students.
• Allowing parents across the nation to withdraw up to $10,000 tax-free per year from 529 education savings plans to cover public, private, or religious K-12 schooling costs, thanks to the President’s historic tax cuts.

Parents can be confident that under his Administration, President Trump will provide every available opportunity for parents to enrich the education of their children through individual choice.

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Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families

EXECUTIVE ORDER 

 

January 29, 2025

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve the education, well-being, and future success of America’s most prized resource, her young citizens, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Purpose.  Parents want and deserve the best education for their children.  But too many children do not thrive in their assigned, government-run K-12 school.  According to this year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 70 percent of 8th graders were below proficient in reading, and 72 percent were below proficient in math.  Moreover, geographically based school assignments exacerbate the cost of housing in districts with preferred schools, straining the finances of millions of American families sacrificing for their children’s futures. 

When our public education system fails such a large segment of society, it hinders our national competitiveness and devastates families and communities.  For this reason, more than a dozen States have enacted universal K-12 scholarship programs, allowing families — rather than the government — to choose the best educational setting for their children.  These States have highlighted the most promising avenue for education reform:  educational choice for families and competition for residentially assigned, government-run public schools.  The growing body of rigorous research demonstrates that well-designed education-freedom programs improve student achievement and cause nearby public schools to improve their performance. 

Sec. 2.  Policy.  It is the policy of my Administration to support parents in choosing and directing the upbringing and education of their children. 

Sec. 3.  Guidance on Supporting State-based K-12 Educational Choice.  Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Education shall issue guidance regarding how States can use Federal formula funds to support K-12 educational choice initiatives.

Sec. 4.  Encouraging Education Freedom through Discretionary Grant Programs.  (a)  The Secretary of Education shall include education freedom as a priority in discretionary grant programs, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law. 
(b)  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education shall review their respective discretionary grant programs and each submit a plan to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, that identifies, evaluates, and makes recommendations regarding using relevant discretionary grant programs to expand education freedom for America’s families and teachers. 

Sec. 5.  Expanding Opportunities for Low-Income, Working Families.  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall issue guidance regarding whether and how States receiving block grants for families and children from the Department, including the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDGB), can use them to expand educational choice and support families who choose educational alternatives to governmental entities, including private and faith-based options.

Sec. 6.  Helping Military Families.  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense shall review any available mechanisms under which military-connected families may use funds from the Department of Defense to attend schools of their choice, including private, faith-based, or public charter schools, and submit a plan to the President describing such mechanisms and the steps that would be necessary to implement them beginning in the 2025-26 school year.

Sec. 7.  Helping Children Eligible for Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Schools.  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior shall review any available mechanisms under which families of students eligible to attend BIE schools may use their Federal funding for educational options of their choice, including private, faith-based, or public charter schools, and submit a plan to the President describing such mechanisms and the steps that would be necessary to implement them for the 2025-26 school year.  The Secretary shall report on the current performance of BIE schools and identify educational options in nearby areas.  

Sec. 8.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

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School choice the solution to Minnesota’s educational decline, event speakers say

The statistics are alarming, but Opportunity for All Kids executive director Devin Foley and Rep. Harry Niska explained to parents the hope that Education Savings Accounts offer students.

By

Annie Holmquist

October 9, 2024

Education is a point of pride for Minnesotans. Living in a state which led the way on educational innovation, many Minnesotans have come to believe that the state’s borders are truly a place where “the women are strong and the children above average,” to quote Garrison Keillor’s famous phrase.

But the days of Lake Wobegon magic may be over, a fact demonstrated by the most recent statistics from the Minnesota Department of Education.

Devin Foley, executive director of Opportunity for All Kids (OAK), shared these statistics at an event at Minnehaha Academy on Sept. 20, 2024. Here are just a few sample insights:

• Of the 52 school districts in the Twin Cities, 37 have 60% or less of their students proficient in reading.
• Of the 52 school districts in the Twin Cities, 39 have 60% or less of their students proficient in math.
• Between 2023 and 2024, more than half of the districts in the Twin Cities saw math proficiency rates for 11th-grade students drop.
• Between 2023 and 2024, more than a third of districts in the Twin Cities saw reading proficiency rates for 10th-grade students drop.

Statistics such as these are downright horrifying. But rather than spread doom and gloom, Foley, along with special guest State Rep. Harry Niska, explained to parents and grandparents the hope that Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) offer Minnesota’s students.

ESAs have been spreading across the nation like wildfire, passing in nearly 20 states over the last few years. According to Foley, an ESA works like a Health Savings Account, where funds are deposited into an account specifically for the use of education purchases such as private school tuition, homeschool curriculum, or other approved expenses. Parents can then use a debit card to draw these funds out of the account and put them toward the educational experience they believe best fits their individual children.

In Minnesota, an ESA would be around $7,000 per student.

But getting ESAs through the Minnesota Legislature won’t just be a walk in the park. “Parents and people interested in education choice need to stand up and get organized because the folks who are trying to stop it are already organized,” State Rep. Niska said at the event, going on to explain why education is so important to the well-being of the state:

“The State of Minnesota, our Constitution, says that education is vital to our republican form of government. It’s important to our society, it’s important to us as having a government that’s accountable to us the people that we have an educated populace, a populace that can understand, that can think about problems, that can read, that can do the basic things that are needed to function in our society. A big part of it is putting every person in charge of their own life, putting every parent in charge of their kids’ education, putting every young man and woman in a position where they can succeed in the future. Learning how to read, learning how to do math, learning how to use a computer is way more important than learning about identity politics.”

School choice the solution to Minnesota’s educational decline, event speakers say 

National School Choice Week 

https://schoolchoiceweek.com/guide-school-choice-minnesota/ 

 

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