WashingtonA comprehensive executive order that would prioritize and free up government funding to expand school choice programs was signed by President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
According to a senior White House official, the directive affects many federal departments and instructs the Education Department to give school choice initiatives first priority when allocating discretionary grants. It also provides states with direction regarding federal funding for districts and schools.
According to the order, the Secretary of Education must provide direction to States on how to use Federal formula monies to assist K–12 educational choice programs within 60 days of the order’s date.
“Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families,” the order, requires the Department of Health and Human Services to provide guidance within the next ninety days on how states that receive block grants for families and children can use those funds for private and faith-based institutions.
Additionally, it instructs the interior secretary to submit a plan for students at Bureau of Indian Education schools to utilize federal funds for school choice, and it directs Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to present to Trump a plan for military families to use Pentagon funds to send their children to schools of their choosing.
Trump was anticipated to sign the order, according to CBS Newsfirst.
At the center-right think tank American Enterprise Institute, Frederick Hess, director of education policy research, described the action as “clearly a stark shift in emphasis for Washington.”
“Given thedismal resultson the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress,releasedtoday, I m pleased to see the administration doing what it can to ensure families have access to more and better choices,” Hess stated. “The administration is doing what it can to expand parental choice rather than stifle it, which was a pattern that was all too familiar over the previous four years, even though there are significant limits to what is possible given statutory constraints and Washington’s modest role in K-12 schooling.
The executive order “is timely, given many governors, families, students, and educators across the nation, in all types of schools, are celebrating National School Choice Week right now,” according to Derrell Bradford, president of 50CAN, a nonprofit organization that advocates for school choice. Along with many other state-level activists, I am eager to see the suggestions made on this unusually well-liked topic.
On Sunday, the Education Department declared that this week is National School Choice Week, promoting “education freedom” by providing families and students with information about public, charter, private, and homeschooling options.
“School choice empowers parents and guardians to pursue the best learning environment for their children,” the government stated in a press release. “It allows for innovative schooling models and methods that meet the unique needs of students across the nation.”
Opponents of school choice contend that it harms public schools by giving families the ability to choose the schools for their children through vouchers.
At the American Federation of Teachers’ annual convention last year, Randi Weingarten, the organization’s president, stated that studies have shown vouchers have a detrimental impact on student progress.
She claimed that wealthy families who already take their children to private and religious institutions now receive voucher subsidies. Privatizers destabilize and starve public schools in order to finance such giveaways.
During the transition process, Trump’s spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, stated that he thought “school choice is the civil rights issue of our time” and that it would “ensure all families have access to a great education, no matter their ZIP code.” Trump ran on a platform of increasing school choice programs.
Additionally, the White House declared Wednesday that Trump had signed an executive order committed to “ending radical indoctrination in K-12 schooling.”
The directive requires a number of Cabinet members to submit an Ending Indoctrination Strategy to the President within ninety days, which includes cutting off funds for indoctrination and unlawful, discriminatory treatment in K–12 institutions.
The 1776 Commission, an initiative from Trump’s first term that his administration claimed would bring patriotism back into the curriculum, is also mentioned in the directive.
Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment and the administrator of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first administration, is Trump’s choice for education secretary, although the Senate has not yet confirmed her.
Rebecca Shabad and Yamiche Alcindor provided updates from Washington. Reporting from New York was Dareh Gregorian.