Author: BelieveAgain

Congress on Wednesday took a major and unprecedented step toward creating a federal private school choice program, as House lawmakers narrowly approved a sweeping legislative package with $5 billion in annual tax credits that fuel scholarships and related expenses at K-12 private schools.The federal subsidies would come in the form of dollar-for-dollar tax credits for individuals and corporations that donate to largely unregulated state-level organizations that give out scholarship funds for parents to spend on private educational options of their choosing.Any student—even in states that have resisted expanding private school choice—from a family earning less than 300 percent of the…

When the Trump administration urged states to use a little-known provision in federal education law to boost school choice, the congressman who helped author the language 24 years ago had an immediate reaction. “It’s about time,” said former Congressman Bob Schaffer.In a May 7 letter, Acting Assistant Education Secretary Hayley B. Sanon urged states to ease their criteria for labeling schools as “persistently dangerous”— a designation that legally comes with an obligation to offer families an option to transfer to another public school. “The number of persistently dangerous schools reported nationwide appears low particularly given the number of violent offenses…

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon offered few specifics on how the Department of Education would consolidate funding streams and cut billions of dollars from its bottom line but repeatedly reassured lawmakers during a budget hearing Wednesday that vital dollars would remain even as she seeks to close the agency.The hearing before a House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee followed the release of President Donald Trump’s “skinny budget” earlier this month, which lays out broad proposals with details yet to be filled in. The early budget stops short of executing Trump’s campaign promise to eliminate the department and move its vast…

The U.S. Department of Education will prioritize sending grant funding to initiatives that expand school choice, put more onus on states to oversee education, and focus on literacy, the agency announced Tuesday.The priorities home in on President Donald Trump’s focus for education since taking office, particularly expanding school choice and dismantling the Education Department.The Trump administration also aims to replace priorities from President Joe Biden’s administration, which, among other things, prioritized diversifying the teaching pool, promoting equity in students’ educational opportunities, and social-emotional learning as it evaluated applications for competitive grants.The Trump administration has taken an aggressive stance to stamp…

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted emergency relief restoring voting privileges to a Maine state legislator who was censured for her social media post critical of a transgender female student’s victory in a state high school track and field championship event.The Feb. 17 Facebook post by state Rep. Laurel D. Libby led to other posts and media appearances in which the Republican lawmaker criticized Maine officials for allowing transgender students to participate in girls’ athletics. It also helped lead to President Donald Trump’s Feb. 21 confrontation with Maine Gov. Janet T. Mills, a Democrat, at a White House event.The…

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could profoundly reshape parents’ rights and curriculum decisions in public schools. Legally, Mahmoud v. Taylor asks whether public schools burden parents’ First Amendment right to religious freedoms by introducing students to content with which their parents disagree.Attempting to resolve these types of issues through constitutional adjudication risks bypassing the intimate, local, relational, and pedagogically rich contexts in which public education operates and thrives. The court’s ruling, which is expected next month, will likely favor one side over the other—and therefore may silence the very conversations that help schools…

The U.S. Department of Education is immediately increasing funding for a charter school grant program after it gained extra leeway through the budget process to allocate funds for the rest of this fiscal year and as the Trump administration looks to expand school choice. The department will free up $60 million immediately, it announced Friday, increasing funding for the Charter School Programs grant to $500 million for the budget year that lasts until Sept. 30. The grant funds the creation of new charter schools, pays for construction and maintenance for existing schools, and supports the scaling up of successful programs.The…

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday told Congress the Trump administration would not cut funding for Head Start, after layoffs at the agency and funding freezes raised fears the six-decade-old program would be radically downsized.In an appearance before a Senate subcommittee, Kennedy said the administration would “emphasize healthy eating in Head Start, and ensure the program continues to serve its 750,000 children and parents effectively.”The early education program, which serves children from low-income and homeless families around the country, grapples with staffing shortages and many centers operate in a perpetual state of financial precarity.While the…

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday heard arguments in a case involving President Donald Trump’s executive order that could revoke birthright citizenship from children of some undocumented immigrant parents, an issue being watched closely by educators and policymakers.The unusual May argument—two weeks after the court’s regular arguments ended for the 2024-25 term—was largely focused on the legal question the administration brought to the court in an emergency application: whether federal district judges have the power to issue nationwide injunctions blocking federal policies they believe are unlawful. Three such judges have blocked Trump’s Jan. 20 order, ruling that it is likely…

House Republicans want to set aside up to $5 billion a year for scholarships to help families send their children to private and religious schools, an unprecedented effort to use public money to pay for private education.The proposal, part of a budget reconciliation bill released Monday, would advance President Donald Trump’s agenda of establishing “universal school choice” by providing families nationwide the option to give their children an education different from the one offered in their local public school. Nearly all households would qualify except those making more than three times the local median income.Supporters of private school choice say…