Trump's week in review: Executive orders on public education, ending child mutilation and protecting parental rights
3. Promoting school choice
Trump signed an executive order Tuesday designed for the purpose of “expanding educational freedom and opportunity for families.” Trump maintained that “too many children do not thrive in their assigned, government-run K-12 school,” citing statistics from the National Assessment of Educational Progress finding that 70% of eighth graders were below proficient in reading and 72% failed to meet proficiency standards in mathematics.
After praising the states that have enacted “universal K-12 scholarship programs, allowing families — rather than the government — to choose the best educational setting for their children,” Trump directed the Secretary of Defense to “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.”
Trump called for the Department of Defense to submit a plan outlining “such mechanisms and the steps that would be necessary to implement them beginning in the 2025-26 school year.” He also ordered the Department of the Interior to take a similar course of action when it came to examining school choice options available for students who attend Bureau of Indian Education schools, referring to institutions located on Native American reservations run by the federal government.
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Additional provisions in the order asked the Secretary of Education to establish guidance for states advising them how federal funds can be used to support school choice and directed the Secretary of Labor as well as the Secretary of Education to formulate a plan that “identifies, evaluates, and makes recommendations regarding using relevant discretionary grant programs to expand education freedom for America’s families and teachers.”
Instructions to the Department of Health and Human Services ordered the agency to 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.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
