Trump issues two education-related executive orders

Date Posted: 1/30/2025 | Author: Heather Sheffield
This has been a week for executive branch fixation on vouchers. Here in Texas, in anticipation of Gov. Greg Abbott (R) declaring vouchers an emergency item in his upcoming State of the State address Sunday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) tasked the Senate Education Committee with fast-tracking Senate Bill (SB) 2, the Senate’s priority voucher bill. Meanwhile, at the federal level, President Donald Trump released a pair of executive orders: one aimed at directing federal dollars toward vouchers and the other at highlighting claims that public schools are “promoting radical indoctrination”—claims that many feel are primarily designed to justify shifting funding to voucher programs.
Trump’s school choice-focused order trumpets a cause Trump and his financial backers have championed for eight years and is being heralded as a significant victory for those advocating for greater access to taxpayer-funded private education. The order directs multiple agencies to facilitate potential redirection and use of federal funds for private schooling. The order directs the U.S. Department of Education to issue guidance on using federal funds for voucher programs. The order has left federal policy experts in and out of government scrambling to release preliminary guidance on how or, in some cases, if agencies can comply. Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, the former president and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), has yet to be confirmed, adding further uncertainty as to how the department will ultimately respond. The Department of Defense is tasked with creating a plan to help military families use federal funds for private schools, while the Department of the Interior must do the same for families attending Bureau of Indian Education schools. Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services has been directed to guide states on allocating funds for private or faith-based education. One primary question to be answered is to what degree the president, who is not in charge of federal appropriations, can redirect funding toward a purpose for which it was not designated. (Further complicating matters is Trump’s campaign pledge to dismantle the Department of Education.)
Although Texas is in the early stages of the 2025 legislative session and discussions about “school choice” are just heating up, several Republican-led states have already enacted such policies. By permitting federal dollars to support these programs, Trump’s actions could further energize the movement, but no one understands the implications of this new executive order and its impact on states or families. Public school advocates, including ATPE, argue that diverting taxpayer dollars from public to private schools will harm already dramatically underfunded public schools, especially in districts facing budget shortfalls and declining enrollment. In the short term, these programs have tended to lead to increased burden on local taxpayers as state funding is diverted. In the longer term, critics fear this could lead to the eventual collapse of public schools and greater inequities in education.
Trump’s other school-related executive order purports to address parental rights and ending discrimination. It directs federal agencies to ensure compliance with laws prohibiting discrimination in K-12 education and protecting parental rights by seeking to end funding for what it describes as “illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K-12 schools, including based on gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology.” (Abbott issued his own letter to state agency heads on related matters Thursday afternoon.)
The details of Trump’s “parental rights” executive order are perhaps even more unclear than the order promoting vouchers, but it is very clear the executive branches at both the state and federal levels are creating significant challenges in obtaining public education funding for Texas public school students.
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School vouchers all they way and yes CRT is in school some labeled as Social Emotional learning…we have kids that CAN NOT write!!! Reading and math are so low that its ridiculous…. So yes if people want better education this is the way!! As far for under funded schools…the amount of money wasted on things not needed it so astronomical its not even funny …… Lunch program is flaming joke full of man made filler would not surprise me if the bugs haven''t made its way in there….so there is that iccary
I''m confused by the President releasing an executive order "highlighting claims that public schools are promoting radical indoctrination". It would be great if anyone making decisions about public school funding was required to volunteer in an elementary school for one day, and follow the teacher''s lesson plans for that day. Not "wing it", or "share their experiences", but instead follow the District''s scope and sequence for Reading Language Arts and Spelling, Math, Science, and Social Studies, as well as P.E., Art, and Music. They would see that every minute is scheduled. There is no time for "indoctrination"! The school nurse can''t even offer a student with chapped lips petroleum jelly on a swab! Beyond decisions being made by people that may have been outside of public education for many years, the issue I take with vouchers is the complete lack of accountability for the release of public funds in the current Bill. Wasn''t it just this past fall that our Governor had a negative reaction when UT Austin announced they would offer free tuition for qualifying students whose family''s adjusted gross income was less than $100,000.00/annually through the Promise Plus program? Yet, there is no income ceiling in the voucher bill currently being pushed through for vote. It is a Universal Bill. Parents whose AGI exceeds $100,000.00/annually would still be eligible for the $10,000.00 voucher. There is also no required accountability for the way the money is spent. What is the chance that our legislature might publish the average cost of tuition, uniforms, books, and activity fees charged by private schools in each congressional district? Parents should understand how little $10,000.00 will go to cover their child''s private school experience.
@Pamela Ryan…I’m no fan of Republicans policies but your comment needs clarifying. I’m not aware of George W. Bush supporting school voucher programs during his tenure as governor. Additionally, what did George W. Bush do as governor that ruined our sports? If I recall correctly, especially since I experienced it first hand, it was Governor Mark White (D) who signed HB 72 into law during the very rushed 1984 special session that instituted the “no-pass/no-play” rules that sent school districts reeling to make grade policy changes that affected the GPA’s of my friends and I our Senior year only to be amended to the expectations that it is and has been since Fall 1985 . If I remember correctly, H. Ross Perot was a part of this as well. Please enlighten us on your thought process pathway. Thanks!
No vouchers are needed in education. Public schools are suffering enough without more being taken from it. Why are people still voting on candidates that are doing more harm than good. We want our children to have a future not dread the future.
Thank you! I am against school vouchers. I hate what George Bush did to Texas. It has ruined our sports as well as cut our funding.