Trump’s Educational Freedom Order Extends School Choice Week

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday directing federal agencies to find ways to prioritize school choice programs — a sharp reversal from the previous administration’s hostile opposition to reform.

As part of a growing trend, there are already around a dozen states operating universal school choice programs available to virtually all students — empowering the families of more than a million kids, according to EdChoice. This week also marks the 15th annual National School Choice Week — a celebration that “informs, inspires, and empowers parents to discover the K-12 education options available for their children.”

The term “school choice” refers to programs that break the monopoly that the current public zip-code-zoned system has over students’ education by opening up new opportunities for families, such as vouchers and Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) that allow Americans to access private-school options that were once reserved only for the wealthy. These programs complement other initiatives such as public charter schools and open enrollment (i.e., permitting attendance at schools outside of a family’s assigned district).

Staunch Opposition

In Kentucky’s general election — where voters had an opportunity to amend the state constitution to permit school choice — there was a widespread (and illegal) effort to leverage taxpayer resources by using public school resources to lead the opposition to the amendment and silence opponents online. The amendment ultimately failed, with national teachers’ unions amassing more than $7 million toward political action committees to ensure that kids in Kentucky are left without alternatives to their assigned school.

Similarly, in South Carolina, special interests engaged in an organized lawfare campaign to kill the state’s Educational Scholarship Trust Fund, a program intended to benefit low- and middle-income families with alternative options to traditional public schools. The decision canceled more than 2,000 scholarships while students were only weeks into their new school year.

Success Stories

School choice advocates need to keep at it. As the lead education lawyer for Liberty Justice Center, a public-interest litigation firm, I’ve had the privilege of helping fight on behalf of parents, students, and teachers seeking a more free, fair, and transparent educational system.

For example, when choice programs were challenged in South Carolina, we led a coalition of education reform advocates to highlight for the court the personal stories of a diverse array of students who benefit from school choice programs — including students with special physical or intellectual challenges, victims of bullying, children of active-duty military, and religious minorities. In Missouri, we stopped an attempt by anti-choice activists to block funding for 45,000 students at independent schools.

In Texas, we empowered local taxpayers to use the state’s powerful election laws to petition their district attorneys to investigate school administrators who were illegally using taxpayer resources to pressure their employees to vote for anti-choice candidates. Likewise, in Kentucky, we took a stand against electioneering with taxpayer resources.

In Iowa, when school districts were colluding to withhold sales of vacant buildings to charter schools and other educational entrepreneurs, we worked with activists to draft and pass legislation prohibiting this practice.

The Supreme Court will also step in soon. The court said it would consider St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond, a case that will decide whether religious organizations can obtain charter school designations on the same terms as secular organizations.

Past Bipartisan Support

Unfortunately, school choice has lately developed a partisan reputation, with Republicans largely supporting expanded educational opportunities and Democratic politicians opposing them. But this was not always the case. Two of the earliest modern “voucher” programs were championed by minority community leaders, with bipartisan support, to help children escape failing and segregated schools.

The left should recognize that school choice can help them avoid culture wars too. In Louisiana, the state has mandated that every classroom must display the Ten Commandments, and in Oklahoma, Bible instruction is now required in schools. If legal challenges to these programs fail, those who oppose should be able to opt out and find other educational opportunities that align with their values.

By next year’s school choice week, we should strive to move beyond partisan divides and embrace reforms that prioritize the voices of parents and the needs of children over bureaucratic systems.

Dean McGee is senior counsel for education freedom at the Liberty Justice Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public-interest litigation firm that seeks to protect economic liberty, private property rights, free speech, and other fundamental rights.