For far too long, Washington has expanded its control over K-12 education while student learning has continued to decline. However, President Trump is changing course by returning education to the states, advancing education freedom, and restoring parents’ rightful authority over their children’s education. After decades of federal overreach, a long-overdue hard reset for American education is underway.
The U.S. Department of Education has been a 45-year, astronomically expensive failure. More than $3 trillion has been spent without improving student learning. While states receive only about 10% of their education funding from the federal government, those dollars bring a disproportionate burden of rules, regulations, and bureaucracy. The result is less freedom to innovate, higher costs, and decision-making increasingly removed from students, parents, and local communities.
Returning education to the states will give state and local leaders greater flexibility to build systems around the unique needs of their students. It will also bring decision-making closer to moms and dads, who know and love their children best.
No two children are the same, and no single education model can serve every student well. Families need access to education freedom so they can select the best learning avenue for their children.
The new Federal Tax Credit Scholarship is a historic breakthrough for families. Beginning in January, Americans can contribute up to $1,700 annually to an approved scholarship-granting organization and receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit. These scholarships can help students access tuition, tutoring, books, transportation, special-needs services, and other educational resources. Thirty states have already opted in, and governors in the remaining states should act now.
The prolonged school closures during the COVID pandemic opened parents’ eyes to what their children were being taught and the overall lack of learning. The resulting public school exodus continues as families search for better options than their residentially assigned district public school. Microschools, learning pods, innovative private schools, and career-focused programs are expanding because parents are no longer willing to accept a one-size-fits-all system that fails to meet their children’s needs or that works at odds with their values.
The best way to break down the teachers union-controlled public education monopoly is to advance education freedom by empowering parents with their children’s education funding to select the learning option that best serves their needs. School choice creates competition and ultimately increases quality, drives down costs, and spurs innovation—all of which are needed in K-12 education.
Thankfully for the American people, President Trump and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon are moving at an incredible pace to empower parents and return education to the states because our country cannot afford to continue the status quo in K-12 education. American children are our nation’s future, and that future will depend on the quality of education and worldview they receive during the 13 most formative years of their lives.
Click HERE to watch Keri D. Ingraham’s interview on Newsmax National Update or watch below.