The Trump administration’s K-12 education policy prescriptions typically focus on ways to provide financial support for private schools, including federal vouchers and tax-credit scholarships. These programs require congressional action through new K-12 legislation or modifications to the U.S. tax code.
However, the administration has an additional opportunity to provide families with more K-12 education choices that has received far less attention. This involves existing federal programs, administrative guidance and regulatory shifts that would not require new legislation. Doing this would create more choices for families, give educators more options to work in different learning environments and unlock more educational opportunities for K-12 students nationwide.
This approach is consistent with the January 29 executive order that focused on helping parents escape the “geographically based school assignments” that constrain “choosing and directing the upbringing and education of their children.” The order requires the secretary of education to issue guidance on how states can use federal formula and discretionary grant programs to do this, consistent with the administration’s desire to return education authority to the states.
