Center for American Progress

STATEMENT: Rural Families To Be Hurt by Trump’s School Choice Order, CAP’s Weadé James Says
Press Statement

STATEMENT: Rural Families To Be Hurt by Trump’s School Choice Order, CAP’s Weadé James Says

Washington, D.C. — Today, President Donald Trump signed an executive order funneling more federal funds toward school choice programs. Specifically, the order urges the U.S. Department of Education to prioritize funding grants for school choice programs such as private vouchers and requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to issue new guidance on how states can use these federal grant monies to fund private and faith-based schools.

In response, Weadé James, senior director for K-12 Education Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:

Privatizing public education by redirecting taxpayer dollars away from supporting public schools and toward funding private and religious education will not benefit the majority of American students—and could prove harmful for our most vulnerable student populations. Private vouchers in particular do not serve students at the margins. For example, only 34 percent of all rural students in the United States have access to a private school. What’s more, unlike public schools, private schools lack accountability and are not required to serve students with disabilities. 

Today’s executive order is an attempt to distract from what we know to be true: that when funded adequately with the appropriate conditions for learning, and staffed with skilled educators, public schools have a proven record of student success. This is evident in the release of today’s 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress scores, which showed that with the help of federal education relief aid, states such as Alabama and Mississippi have made significant academic gains. Since private and faith-based schools do not adhere to the same accountability systems as public schools, there is no measure of their effectiveness, raising concerns about their ability to deliver a world-class education.

For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Mishka Espey at [email protected].

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