Patriotic Education Trump's Impact on School Choice

The subject of education was front and center during the Trump administration. Marxist ideology had crept into the public school system, essentially turning schools into indoctrination centers. Mounting evidence has proven that schools became the epicenter for mass anti-American rhetoric that has sadly taken the youth of America by storm. Through the implementation of the President’s Advisory 1776 commission and a series of Executive Orders, alongside legislative change, the Trump administration worked on combating the divisive nature of the education system developed.

Donald Trump throughout his life has advocated for higher education standards and services for Americans. On September 22, 2020, Trump issued Executive Order 13950 Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping to stamp out the evils of Critical Race Theory. During the Trump administration close to 1.5 billion dollars was invested to upgrade and develop public charter schools that drastically improved education allowing around 3 million students to prosper. This was a much-needed addition as the Nations Report Card indicated that nearly two-thirds of children failed to read proficiently, highlighting America's illiteracy issues amongst children. Advancing education in areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics amongst minorities saw a much-awaited boost with 200 million dollars per year granted in federal funding during the era.

The Trump administration favored the concept of school choice. The absence of school choice saw states like Pennsylvania see nearly 50,000 students remain on a scholarship wait-list as a result of a state school choice bill being vetoed. On December 28, 2020, President Trump issued Executive Order No. 13969 Expanding Educational Opportunity Through School Choice. Trump has emphasized the need for state control of local education procedures which was achieved by using the Every Student Succeeds Act signed by the prior administration. The Order was delivered in alliance with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to allocate educational funding for K-12 tuition for public, private, or religious schools for parental choice. President Trump abridged the process for families applying for Federal Student Aid, streamlining the application process for 20 million families.

In 2017 President Trump reinstated the D.C Opportunity Scholarship program, a woeful decision by President Obama to discontinue the program in 2009 as the program was highly popular amongst students. On December 19, 2019, President Trump signed HR5363 the FUTURE Act. The enacting of legislation secured federal funding annually for the Federal Pell Grant program. The FUTURES Act in addition captured a permanent $255 million dollar a year funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Under the Obama administration, HBCUs saw a cut to their annual funding. Under Trump, HBCUs received strong support, with 322 million dollars estimated in disaster loan forgiveness issued to HUCUs across the country, faith-based HBCUs were granted equal access to federal aid.

“For decades, countless children have been trapped in failing government schools. In my Administration, these children are forgotten no longer.” President Donald J. Trump February 4th, 2020.